Incarnadine Warrior Returns
by AaronMikaski
Summary: After being supposedly dead, Red wakes up unable to find out where he is. Now he's trying to beat the clock of his impending doom to save Shredder and Shade.


Prologue

WARNING: This story has a homosexual relationship, if you take offense to this, my greatest condolences. Calvin, and his pokemons are all made by Ruby of Blue. None of the character's name or relationships were my idea. Red, Crystal, Gold, Skull-Mask, and any other newcomer, were mostly my idea. The character Red and Gold, are both made from Pokemon. Their emotions and personality are mine. Pokemons of any of the characters besides Calvin are my idea. Prequel is not made, don't go snooping around. Epilogue at the end has more detail.

Incarnadine Warrior Returns

Chapter 1

Red probably would have been pretty happy to be alive, You know the idea being blown out of the sky and then plummeting into the ocean going, what, 75 miles per hour, and then miraculously awakening in a warm bed should have been a happy day for Red. Alas though, he was in the familiar and quite depressing predicament of awaking unarmed in a house in the middle of I-don't-know-city with a girl on who-the-hell-are-you Avenue. That had a terrible ring to it. Red the Champion of Kanto awakens unarmed with no pokemon to save him. "Yup back here again" Red thought bitterly to himself.

Red tried to recall anything after the initial explosion maybe that could give him a clue on where he was, who this girl was, and what he was doing here. He remembered soaring through the sky at terminal velocity, throwing three belts covered in grenade as he collided midair on those thugs. What did they call themselves again? Defender of Peace? Protector of Humanity? What a load of crap. Honestly, how do they get away with selling people that garbage? They nearly killed Red and his family. A twinge of sadness ran over him when he thought about that word. "Family," funny thing one minute Red had it all and the next… "Stop it," Red thought to himself. "I can't afford to feel depress I should just try and find out where I'm at," He craned his neck and saw that the girl was absorbed in making some sort of concoction.

Red tried to sit up but was immediately greeted by an immense amount of pain that shot through his whole torso. "Okay let's not do that again," Red suggested to himself. "Oh your awake," The girl said "I was beginning to worry we had killed you." Now that the girl was facing him he got a better look at her. She had pale face accompanied by vibrant blue eyes and long, straight, bronze hair that freely tumbled over her shoulders, she was cute in a tom-boyish way. She reminded Red of Crystal. "Crystal..." Red thought miserably "I hope you're holding up..." "So what's your name?" The girl was back to making her concoction but gave a concerned glance at Red. Red made an attempt to say his name but found that it was difficult to speak. "R-Red," Red said with a raspy voice. "Yours?" Red said trying to be social. "Sapphire," she said, "I'm Sapphire."

Red began to realize that his shirt was replaced with gauze and other assortments of bandages. Red has entered an awkward part in his life where he's in a room, alone, besides the girl, with no shirt on. Red was, as many people say, socially awkward. He had spent 15 years on top of Mt. Silver with no one to speak to but his three Pokemon. Sparky, the Pikachu, Blessed, the Dragonite, and Requiem the Dusklops (He had taught them how to speak, 15 years with no one to speak to can get lonely). So being in a situation where he was completely defenseless and was incapable of sitting up, didn't really bode well with the fact that he was half naked. He looked down at his body. Nothing but his collar bone and a little bit of gauze was visible thanks to the thin blanket that covered him. "How long was I out?" Red said attempting to move his arm. Nope he had an arm cast. Lovely. "You've been out for roughly a week," Sapphire said. Red should have been surprised but after falling from unimaginable heights after destroying a bunch of helicopters and Pokemon mounted trainers, he was kind of unimpressed, so instead of a gasp of astonishment, Red made an unimpressed "humph." The girl approached Red with a bowl of what looked like mashed herbs. "Here this will help you recover a little faster."

Sapphire helped Red up, he cringed as the pain began to burn through his torso again. Now that he was up, he got a greater view of the room. It looked somewhat like a hospital room. It had some homey touches though. There was a painted picture of a flower next to the door, and a window with the warm light from the sun streaming in. In a way, it reminded Red of his home. He also got a look at the woman's shirt, _"You can bully me all you want, but remember that when you get hurt I'm the one treating you."_ He could tell by the shirt that his girl must be a doctor or a student of a doctor. He also saw the rest of his clothe were on the table, or what's left of them anyways. The shirt was tattered in soot and had holes all over them and an entire half the shirt was torn off and there were a small tinge of blood. The rest of his clothe were, in many ways, the same condition. Then his stomach did a back flip. "Did anyone help you patch me up?" Sapphire stopped stirring the mashed herbs and looked at Red puzzled at the sudden question. "Yeah my father stripped you down and patched you up from the waist down, I did the torso." Red breathed in relief. The last thing he needed was the thought that this girl operated on everything below his waste. Sapphire scooped up a spoon of... well that was kind of up for interpretation. In a way it sort of looked like Green hash browns with small bits of red in it. She offered a little bit of it to Red. Red ate expecting to taste gross. It was extremely sour and Red's face contorted in disgust. Sapphire giggled a little bit and Red blushed, his cheeks matching the color of his name.

After gulping down the rest of that..."Medicine," Red finally had the strength to walk around. "Are you sure?" Sapphire said incredulously. "Positive," Red said putting on his best "I-can-do-it" face ever, though his insides were burning. Red stood up but immediately felt wobbly and light headed. Sapphire caught him set him up again. Red felt so good to be back on his feet. His triumph was immediately shot down though by Sapphire's painful observation. "You smell bad." Red was ushered off to the bathroom to take a shower. He looked at himself in the mirror. He looked worse than he felt. His brown hair was greasy, long, shaggy, and gross. His red eyes were sunken in, dark, and depressing, "Your eyes look just like your father," Red's mother had said. "What would he think of me now… if he's even alive that is," Red thought. His face was pale, hollow, and was just plain disgusting. He shuddered at his reflection. He looked at his body. He looked scrawny, weak, and deathly skinny. He wore pants that were probably way too large for him but he wore a belt to keep them on. His entire torso was covered in thick, white, gauze. The worst part was probably the smell. He smelled like cinder, burnt flesh, and sea water. He looked like and smelled like, in general, a person that had just been hurdled at a bunch of assorted flying pokemon with active explosives and then went plummeting into the ocean.

Red turned on the shower and allowed it to get warm enough and walked in. He let the warm water hit his back as he stared blankly at the shower wall. Then he began to think to himself. He remembered that he had promised not to leave his family again and look how long that lasted. He remembered the sadness in Crystal's eyes when he took that leap. He remembered the screaming of his pokemon as he went flying through the air. "Why didn't I just die," Red thought to himself miserably. Then a little sliver of realization ran through him. "Maybe this is a second chance. Maybe it wasn't my fate to die there and instead to die at the side of my family" Red thought hoping to be right. A smirk came across Red. "Well Fate, if you're giving me a second wind, I'm taking it and I will soar as far as that wind will take me."

Chapter 2

Red went through a lot of the shampoo provided for him. He hoped they didn't mind, but he really needed to be cleaned. He combed his finger through his hair which felt infinitely better than before. He then used a lot of the body wash and cleaned himself up. He was gentle around his abdomen and arm where it hurt the most. He stepped out of the shower and reevaluated himself. He looked a little better than before. His hair was still long but at least it was clean and at least he didn't smell like a cooked pirate. He draped a towel around his waist to cover everything below, because knowing Red's luck that girl Sapphire would be right behind the corner. He made it to his room and found some oversized clothing draped on his bed, probably the father's clothing. There was a casual red shirt (coincidence? Couldn't be), Blue jeans, socks, and underwear. He put on everything putting the belt over his pants for the fear they would come off. It was difficult using only his left arm but he managed. He then gently took off the sling suspending his arm to get the shirt on. After he was completely done dressing up, he looked at himself and noticed he kind of looked the way he did years ago when he was just a young trainer. He flash back through his memory, catching pokemon, earning badges, raising pokemon, It all flashed by him. He was interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Sapphire. "Hey, are you okay in there?" Sapphire asked in a concerned voice. "Yeah I'm fine," Red called back. "Okay, when you get out there we have breakfast on the table," she said and walked away. "Breakfast," Red said to himself, "Been a while since I've had that."

Red walked down stairs and found Sapphire and a man in probably his 40's sitting at the table. Red guessed the man was Sapphire's father. They both looked up at him and gestured him to sit down. Red did so and for a while there was nothing but the sound of their forks scraping the breakfast plate. Then Red piped up in hope to break the silence. "Thank you for rescuing me and taking care of me while I was unconscious." The old man smiled and nodded. The Old man had flowing brown hair and a small beard beginning to form. His eyes were bright and full of happiness. "I'm kind of curious what happened out there and why you looked the way you did when we found you," said the old man. Red didn't know what he looked like but he could picture it pretty well. Red lied and told the family that he just got into a fight with some thugs and lost, that didn't explain the burned clothing. He didn't want them knowing about his family since he still didn't trust them that much. Maybe they were thugs trying to find out his families whereabouts. Unlikely, I mean not many people can boast that they survived that, they probably think he's dead, but caution can't hurt. The Old man looked at him and smiled. "Well we better get you back to where you came from, I bet your family is worried."

He had no idea. After breakfast Sapphire told Red to follow her. Red did so suspiciously. They walked outside and red felt the cool breathe of autumnal morning brush his face. "So now that you're awake we need to get you back in shape." Red looked at Sapphire puzzled, he did not like the sound of that. "What do you mean?" Sapphire smiled and said with enthusiasm. "That medicine will help you heal but only just, I'm going to whip you back in shape so you can get back to Crystal and the others." Red opened his mouth to ask how she knew about Crystal but before he could get the words out, Sapphire must have read his expression and said, "You spoke a lot when you slept." Red blushed a little and wondered what ELSE he said in his sleep. Sapphire continued, "So I've been working on a schedule to get you back in shape." Sapphire produced a small slip of parchment and handed it to Red. Red Clumsily grabbed and read over it.

_Time__Activity__End Time_

7:00 Am Jog 7:45 Am

8:00 Am Meditation 9:00 Am

10:00 Am Free time 12:00 Pm

1:00 Pm Pokemon training 3:00 Pm

4:00 Pm Free time 6:00 Pm

7:00 Pm Jog 8:00 Pm

Red gawked at the slip then at Sapphire, "you must be joking I just woke up." Sapphire smiled obviously pleased that Red disapproved. "Nope and speaking of which it just turned 7:00 c'mon!"

Chapter 3

Red had already had enough of this woman. After the jog, Red was absolutely exhausted and was in a lot of pain. Not to mention he couldn't breathe very well because of all the gauze on Red's abdomen. Sapphire let Red relax for a little bit to drink water. Though he was exhausted and obviously displeased on how much Sapphire was pushing him, he was glad she did it, the jog was well worth it. When they finally got done Red saw that he was looking upon Lilycove City in the Hoenn Region. The beautiful terrace laid flat across the sparkling ocean with the clean beach overturning the Western Horizon. The Pokemon Contest building shined brilliant magenta, and right across from that was the Pokemon Center in its usual pink and white color. The large department building towered above the hill. Red was so hypnotized by the view that he kind of forgot that he was exhausted he just sat watching Lilycove City. He barely even realized how much time had gone by until Sapphire's watch beeped. "That means it's time to meditate." And she sat on the rock and looked over Lilycove City. "So what do we do in meditation?" Red asked. "After what you've been through I think you need some time to think about what had happened and sort it out." Sapphire propped a spot right next to Red.

Red wasn't going to complain, after all he did need some time to sort things out otherwise he was going to go insane from what happened. He sat next to Sapphire and closed his eyes and thought back. Back to when he finally returned and to Crystal and the others, His promise that he would never abandon her again. Red thought back to Calvin and his pokemon Shredder and Shade and the two gems that were embedded in their chest. He thought about his pokemon who are probably depressed as hell because of him. He thought about Gold and Skull-Mask promise to take care of his pokemon and the mission without him. Then a weird voice came in his head, "You will see them soon enough just follow this woman." He had barely even thought about how long he was thinking until he was shaken awake by Sapphire. "Man you really had a lot to think about, didn't you?" Red was confused. It felt like only a few minutes had passed by, since then, but then he saw the sun was already starting to rise above the trees that had been shielding them from the sun. "I guess so..." Red said hardly being able to believe how long he was meditating

They began walked back home, Red was more than a little reluctant to leave that view. "Oh come on, you'll see it in the afternoon, trust me it's much better looking then," said Sapphire. Red followed Sapphire back home while he watched the wurmples and tailows rustle through the trees. That reminded Red that one of the activities was training pokemon. "Sapphire, one of the activity was to raise pokemon but I have none. Sapphire looked at him sympathetically. "I know, but that's why I'm going to lend you my empty pokeballs. If you are to get back to your friends you're going to need a little help." Red looked at her with astonishment. This girl who didn't even know Red that much was willing to lend him pokeballs so he could get to his friends. Red Stifled a smile, never had he found person as kind as this one.

"Not only that though," Sapphire whirled around and pointed at Red, "I know who you are Red. You're the champion of the Kanto Region." Red was surprised that his fame was so widespread. Sapphire had a triumphant glimmer in her eyes like she just one a contest. "I'm going to help you get your pokemon, but on one condition. When you get three pokemon to a sufficient level of power, we are going to battle." Red looked at Sapphire, no longer had he thought of her as a pushover, but as a respectable woman. Red smirked, "alright but don't expect me to take it easy on you just because you saved my life." Sapphire smiled back, "I won't and don't YOU expect me to take it easy on you just because you're out of practice." Red smiled which felt good, "I won't." He promised.

Chapter 4

By the time they got back it was already 11:00 he decided he didn't want to wait so he asked Sapphire if they could go now, "Sure let me go get my pokemon," Sapphire said as she walked into her room. She came back out in a different outfit, Pokemon outfit. Sapphire hugged her father goodbye and they left for the forest. While they were out there Red noticed that the wildlife was exceptionally tamed compared to Kanto. The pokemon were more scared of Red then what would have happened in Kanto. In Kanto, pokemon were more feral because the fact that there were less city. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Red was approached fearlessly by a Poochyena.

The wild Poochyena made an unintimidating yip. Sapphire gave Red a pokeball with a pokemon in it. Red looked at Sapphire, "But what if the pokemon doesn't obey?" Sapphire gave him a comforting smile, "Red, you're the champion of the Kanto, I think this pokemon will respect you even as a foreigner." Red looked at the pokeball. "What could be in it?" Red thought to himself. He pressed the white button in the center of the pokeball and threw it into the air. The pokeball opened and a white flash flew out of the pokeball. The flash started to take form of a Breloom. "What does Breloom know?" Red asked. "Sleep powder, Leech seed, Giga Drain, and Sky uppercut," Sapphire replied. Red thought to himself a common strategy used when he was still a young one. "Breloom use Sleep powder," Red said putting all of his faith that Breloom would do it. Miraculously Breloom used Sleep powder. Breloom shot off the ground and shot a green powder from the pores from the mushroom on his head. It hit Poochyena directly and it laid down to rest. "Breloom use Leech Seed!" Breloom again followed Reds order and shot out small orbs at the Poochyena which then tangled around him. "Okay, may I please have a pokeball," Red asked Sapphire. Sapphire produced a pokeball and handed it to Red. Red looked at the pokeball and imagined the first pokemon he got. His Pikachu, Sparky. He threw the pokeball at the tired Poochyena. Poochyena dissolved into a red haze and got absorbed into the pokeball. The pokeball landed on the terrace and began to shake. Red stopped breathing his heart stopped as well. Every time that pokeball rolled to the left and then to the right, Red would relaxed a little more. Then he heard a familiar beep and then a hum. He had caught a Poochyena.

Sapphire applauded as Red went to pick up the pokeball. It was heavier now containing the entity of a Poochyena in it. He threw out the pokeball to let it out. Poochyena looked up at Red this time not with its feral nature but with loyalty and respect. The Poochyena yipped in happiness. Red crouched so he was just a little taller than the female (they found out later) Poochyena and hugged it. This brought back huge memories. He remembered catching Sparky and it acting just the same, he remembered that same Sparky came to be the one who assisted Red on missions and throughout the Kanto, was by far his most loved pokemon. He didn't realize but he was crying with sheer joy and happiness, that memory was deep. He let go of the Poochyena. "Hey are you alright?" Red looked at Sapphire forgetting that she was there. "Yeah," Red said, "C'mon we best get going if I'm going to beat you in a duel." Sapphire smiled at him, "You wish."

Red wanted to make sure that his party was the best for a three-man party. Red had the idea in his mind. A normal type, a fire type, and a psychic type. They roamed the forest hoping that they could find a pokemon that matched Red's criteria. Any pokemon that wasn't on Red's criteria was beaten by Poochyena. Red finally found out what to call his Poochyena. "Luna," Red said abruptly as they were walking. Sapphire looked at him in confusion, "What?" Red looked at the Poochyena and said, "Your name is Luna, because your fur is as grey as a full moon at night." Luna barked happily.

Then a houndour came out of nowhere. It growled at them. Red smirked, "This is the one, GO! Luna!" Luna jumped in front of Red and growled. The Houndour's mouth began to glow orange he was preparing ember. "Luna use Quick attack!" Luna ran at houndour and flashed around the terrace with super speed. Houndour tried to shoot embers at her, but was to slow as Luna rammed Houndour and toppled him over. Luna jumped back with absolute grace. The houndour got back up and was now furious. He charged at Luna. "Luna! Use bite!" Luna jumped at the reckless houndour and bit him on the back of the neck. The houndour was now on the ground unable to move. "Go Pokeball!" Red shouted throwing a pokeball. It hit the injured houndour and disintegrated into a red haze and joined the pokeball. The pokeball hit the ground and made a hollow thud, as it shook back and forth just as it did before. Than just as before it pinged and hummed. Red went to pick up the newly caught houndour. He threw it out and the Houndour materialized in a white haze. The houndour, looked at Red with grudging respect. Luna looked at houndour and smiled. Luna now had a friend. Houndour looked at Luna and gave what looked to be a smirk. "We should head back it's getting late." Sapphire has a way of being forgotten. Red called Luna and Houndour as they head back. "So, how are you going to get back without a pokemon to surf?" Sapphire asked as they walked home. Red looked at Sapphire and the truth hit him like a hammer. He had no idea. "Crap, how could I have planned out everything besides my exit?" Red thought to himself. "I don't know," Red said miserably. Sapphire thought. "You could take the Slateport ferry," Sapphire suggested. Red looked up. If he could get his family to get somewhere where the ferry was going, that could possibly work.

Once they got home they got ready to jog for the second time in the day. As they jogged Luna and the newly caught Houndour followed. They finally reached their destination the rock again. Sapphire was right it was definitely more beautiful in the afternoon. Since it was late, the sun was just hitting the sea, beating attractive gold across the western horizon. "Hey Red," Sapphire said as she grabbed a water bottle from the back pack. "Hmm? What," Red said taking the water bottle. "You do know about that disease on your chest right," Sapphire asked concerned. Red didn't know what she was talking about, but then the memory struck him. Three years ago, he got a very subtle, but deadly illness, it methodically made red blood cells die faster. These blood cells would then stick to veins, arteries, and capillaries, slowing blood flow. The disease had little to no symptoms, except for the veins turning darker wherever the virus spread. In his case, the chest.

Red nodded sadly, "It's a virus that's slowly killing me." Sapphire looked horrified, "We need to get you to a doctor." Red shook his head, "The virus is like cancer, it's genetic, it ran throughout my entire mother's side of the family, I was bound to get it, and there is no treatment for it anyways." Sapphire looked down, "How long do you have?" Red looked over the city, "My doctor said I have roughly 4 years, and that was 3 years ago." Sapphire looked at Red with sadness, "So this might be your last year alive?" Red nodded. They sat the rest of the afternoon in silence. Afterwards, they headed home. The walk was cool and nice. The pokemons were out singing beautiful tunes.

They made it home, the old man had already began to eat his dinner. Steak and fries. Not exactly the largest meal Red has had but it was better than nothing. He sat down and ate, as his two pokemon Luna and Houndour ate the pokemon food happily. Red still needed to think of a name for Houndour. "Midnight," Red said realizing he said it out loud. The old man looked at him along with Sapphire. "Sorry I was naming my Houndour Midnight, because his fur reminds me of a pitch black night." Sapphire looked at Red and smiled. "You must love naming your pokemon." Red did enjoy naming them every pokemon he had always got a name based on personality, actions, looks, or attribute. Red finished his dinner and headed upstairs for his first night to actually sleep. As he crawled into bed, he began to cough violently. He covered his mouth and waited until it was done. He looked at his hands, they were covered in blood. Red sighed, "My times almost up, I must hurry."

Chapter 5

His dream was very vivid and dark. He awoke in a hazy void filled with nothing. Requiem had called him here once when they fought. It was called The Void. It was a dark place that ghost pokemons could access, Red was called here when he was trying to catch Requiem, at that time, he was only a duskull at the time. He was asleep for a long time when that happened. He was able to communicate with Requiem from long distances when in this place. Then it hit him. Maybe he could tell Requiem that he's alive. He concentrated on the darkness and when he opened his eyes he was in what looked to be a tropical island. He looked around and found the group completely safe. Then he heard a familiar voice from behind. It was Requiem. He was looking at him, but he was the only one that could because Red was in Specter form. "Hello Red," Requiem said with his usual hollow tone but with a tinge of excitement in his voice. "Hey Requiem," Red said casually, "Listen I don't have much time to talk otherwise I might strain myself beyond my limits," Red continued, "I'm alive Requiem and I'm at the Hoenn region for the moment. I won't be able to get back until I'm fully recovered." Requiem began "Then let us find you tell us where you are we-" "No," Red interrupted, "If they see you they'll blast you out of the sky. They think I'm dead so they won't be looking for me." Red began to get a splitting headache. "Damn, I'm beginning to cut my energy to far…Requiem…tell them I'm alright…" Not a moment too soon Red's transparent body began to waver and then vanished. He then was in a darker place, there was nothing in each direction, "Where am I?" He looked around until he found a strange orb hovering in the darkness. He approached it and found that it was him. Red was staring at a doppelganger of himself huddled in the orb. Red reached out to grab his doppelganger's hand but was pulled back to reality. Red woke up with a start. "What was that? I've never seen that before…" Midnight and Luna were sleeping next to each other on Red's lap. Red smiled, "It doesn't matter, soon, very soon, we'll be together again."

Red woke up feeling refreshed after last night and not only that he was also relieved that his family was alright. He sat up expecting pain but instead of pain there was nothing. That medicine that was fed to him obviously worked. He carefully got out of bed hoping not to disturb Midnight and Luna. He opened his door and found an Alakazam and Sapphire at his door. "Morning!" Sapphire said while she was holding a bowl of that medicine. "Morning Sapphire, is this your pokemon?" Sapphire nodded, "Yup, He just got back after delivering a message to my sister in Kanto, now eat this, take a shower, and eat breakfast. We got another big day ahead of us."

Red grabbed the new clothing that was waiting for him on the desk by his bed. Casual white button-up shirt with a black undershirt, blue jeans (They were a casual family apparently), socks, and underwear. He walked into the bathroom and noticed he seemed a lot more… cheerful. When he woke up last time he was depressed and gross. Now, he was leaner instead of skinny he was still on the scrawny side but he was at least healthy. His originally pale complexion was replaced with a healthy tan color. For just a night, Red made some incredible recovery. That medicine must be pretty powerful. "No you have me to thank," That voice whispered. "What is this," Red asked himself. No response. Nevertheless he put his new clothe under the sink to prevent it from getting wet. Red cleaned up and did his routine, this time using much less soap because he wasn't gross anymore. He thought for a moment, "What was with that dream? I never had a dream like that." He shook it away, "Probably my mind's weird way of sorting things out. He got out and put on his new clothe, it fit well, very well. He walked out and saw that Luna and Midnight were sitting side by side in front of the door. Midnight now was happier than before. "You guys ready for breakfast, huh?" Red asked. They both barked in agreement. They shared an odd fondness for each other. Even without Gold, Red was able to see bonds between pokemon fairly well. He concentrated on the space between and saw a gold lace form between them. Red smiled, "So you guys are friends now? I guess after you beaten Midnight he respects you now Luna."

Red walked downstairs and found Sapphire sitting alone at the table. "Where did the old man go?" Red asked. "He went to pick up some more food for the pokemon now that we have two new mouth to feed." Red felt more than a little guilty for that. Sapphire must've noticed Red's face because she quickly replied with, "He had to get more berries anyways." Red sat down and ate his sausage, eggs and bacon. Bacon, a luxury Red has been starved of for a while. "Good now give me your bad arm," Sapphire said standing up. Red raised his casted arm as Sapphire undid the clips holding it together. Red let his arm fall to his side. It felt nice to finally have his good arm. "We're not done yet," Sapphire said, "Take of your shirt off." Red looked at Sapphire with utter confusion. "I'm taking off that bothersome gauze on your abdomen," Sapphire said. Red did so as Sapphire unwrapped the gauze. Red looked at his abdomen and chest which were originally covered, he saw the dark veins that were instant reminder that he's running out of time, but nonetheless, finally he could breathe deeply, something the gauze had otherwise starved him of. "That feels great," Red said alleviated. They walked outside, the day was, in many ways, the same as yesterday. They jogged back to Lilycove City and sat on the rock overlooking Lilycove. When they had reached the rock, a soft wind passed by them. Red noticed that a large storm cloud was coming from the ocean. "Look like we're going to get some rain," Red observed.

They sat on the Rock and began to meditate, Luna and Midnight were playing with each other behind them. Red thought back to the ethereal meeting he had with Requiem. "Maybe I can try it again tomorrow, and maybe I can talk to crystal this time," Red thought to himself. He was awoken by a scream. Sapphire was standing looking back. There were two thugs and there pokemon attacking Red's pokemon. They weren't the thugs that separated Red from his family but this infuriated him more than anything. "Midnight use ember," Red bellowed with all his anger. Midnight prepared to use ember but was kicked by the thug that had a hold of him. He ran at the thug ready to punch the light out of him but was knocked down by the other. Red looked around dazed and saw Luna and Midnight fighting for their life. The thug stomped on Red's gut and he spit out blood. Red would have been concerned about himself but, a shining light got his attention. Luna began to shine with an incredible light. He was evolving. All of a sudden the thugs no longer had ahold of a Poochyena but instead of a Mightyena. Luna scratched the thug ahold of her and then rammed the other thug. Midnight landed dazed. Luna looked at the thug that had attacked Red. Luna opened her mouth and an orb of power formed in Luna's mouth. It shot at the thug, firing him backwards. Red got up and Luna approached him. Luna licked Red on the nose. Red hugged Luna. "Thank you," Red said. Sapphire finally recovered from her shock, and ran towards Midnight. Midnight was hurt badly. Red ran and picked up the passed out pokemon. At this point the only thing that ran through Red's mind was, "I need to get Midnight to the Pokemon Center."

Red ran for Lilycove City. The hill was steep and rocky but Red didn't care if he was hurt, Red was not going to let Midnight die. He ran down the hill and tripped. He huddled up in a ball to protect Midnight from any further damage. When he recovered from the fall, he had more than a little gashes and hit his head pretty hard. Dizzy, bloodied, and in pain, Red staggered for the Pokemon Center, with more than a few people looking at him funny. He ran inside and fell over hard. The last thing he saw was the nurse running for them picking up Midnight, and then he blacked out.

Chapter 6

When Red woke up he was in an actual hospital. Luna was lying next to the bed. "Great," Red thought, "I'm back in this situation." Red got up, He wasn't in the pain that he was when he woke up that one time but he was still in a lot of pain. Luna saw Red get up and walked over to him. "Hey there girl, how's it going?" Red decided to get out of bed and walked outside. He walked around the hospital, Luna walking behind him, and found the nurse who was surprised to see him awake. "You're awake," the nurse said, "your belongings are over there." He found his clothing but they were tattered with dust and blood. "Damn, I need to stop doing this, someday I really am going to get myself killed," Red thought to himself. He grabbed the clothing and brought it to the bathroom and locked the door. He silently put on his war clothing, (which he called it because of how it looked), and walked outside. He was still in Lilycove city and he could see the Pokemon Center. It was noon so either he was just out for a few hours or he's been outside for a day. Red walked to the Pokemon Center with Luna and found Midnight with Sapphire.

Red walked up to Midnight and hugged him. Then he walked up to Sapphire who, instead of hugging the person with a concussion, punched him onto the ground. "Don't you ever do that again, you have no idea how worried I was about you," Said Sapphire with pure anger in her eyes. "I'm sorry I just needed to get Midnight to the Pokemon Center as quick—" Red was interrupted by another mega punch from the wild Sapphire. "And you would've killed yourself in the process!" Red noticed that Sapphire was crying now. She sat down on the floor wiping the tears from her face. Red hugged Sapphire and said "Don't worry I'm alright." Sapphire hugged Red back. They finally got over themselves and walked out. There walk home was quiet besides the sound of the coming storm. Red guessed that if the storm was still coming for them then that must've meant that he was only out for a few hours. On the way back, Red noticed the spot where they had gotten into that tussle (It honestly wasn't that difficult to find, there was blood splattered there), Red noticed that those thugs were gone. They must've cowered afterwards. When Red got home Sapphire sat him down and grabbed some scissors. "You're starting to get shaggy, you need a haircut," Sapphire said as she grabbed a cloak to cover over Red's body. As she cut, it was awkwardly quiet besides the wind that had begun to pick up and the sound of Red's two pokemons playing with each other. Then Sapphire piped up, "So who is Crystal?"

Red was slightly puzzled at what brought this up. "Well, Crystals my girlfriend," Red replied. "Really? How did you guys meet?" Red laughed, "No need to sound so surprised." "N-no it's not like that," Sapphire stammered. She must've been curious but she wanted to wait a little while before bringing it up in fear of striking a touchy subject. Red thought back to the first time he met Crystal. Red was fighting off those "Defenders of peace," guys. His pokemon were already in bad condition because of a poison that was on all of them. Things were looking pretty grim, then at what seemed to be the end a girl had sent out her pokemons and wiped them out for good. By far the most badass girlfriend ever. Red ran for his pokemon they were alright. Crystal gave him three full restores, then she vanished. After Red had made his way to safety that girl was sitting in a tree watching Red intently. "Who are you?" Red asked. "Crystal, my name is Crystal," She replied. That was how it started. If Red told her everything that went on after that. The journeys they had, the love they shared, and even what actually happened in that ocean.

Sapphire smiled, "Sounds like you cared for her a lot and she cared for you." Red nodded. The door opened and the old man came through with a large sack of Pokemon food, and a bag of other things. "Looks like we're going to have an active night," The old man said exhausted as he put the stuff down. "How was shopping dad?" asked Sapphire returning to cutting Red's hair. "It was alright, though I ended up going to the other end of the town because they were all out of berries at the department store, what happened to you?" He looked at Red. "Red thought that it was a good idea to kill himself to save his pokemon," Sapphire said bitterly. The old man stared at Red, "Wait, what happened?" Sapphire told her father all about the thieves and how Luna evolved and saved Red and Midnight but Midnight was wounded pretty badly, so Red endangered his own life to get his pokemon safe.

Afterword's, the old man was completely distraught with that story, "I'll call the police. That is just a horrendous act of violence to attack you two." Sapphire piped up, "Um, Father we don't know what they looked like so we can't do anything if we don't know what they looked like." The old man was reluctant to put down the phone but he did. And walked to make dinner. Sapphire finally finished cutting Red's hair and handed him a mirror. Red took the mirror and smiled at his reflection. He looked almost exactly how he did when he was a young trainer. Red stood up to go to bed, he wasn't exactly hungry after what happened, and he was much too exhausted to eat. After gulping down the medicine again he head to bed. Luna huddled by the bed now unable to get on the bed because she was now to large. Midnight was next to Luna. Red wasn't good with love but he could tell that they were really getting there.

Chapter 7

Red woke up in the Tropical Island again where the rest were sleeping. All except Crystal who was looking up at the full moon. It was a clear sky so Red assumed that they were already passed the storm or were too far. Red walked up and touched Crystal on the shoulder. He was now able to speak with through thought. "Crystal," Red said, "Are you okay?" Crystal jumped in astonishment and looked around, "Red?" "Crystal I don't have much time but I'm okay don't worry about me I just need time to recover and to get some pokemon to get me back." Crystal started to cry, Red was pretty sure it was with joy. "Okay we'll wait don't die, okay?" Red smiled and got whisked away to the Abyss again. Red looked around and found his Doppelganger. He reached out to touch the orb when a voice stopped him, "Now's not the time, you must focus on getting to your family." This was the same voice that kept speaking to him, "Who are you," Red asked looking around for the source. "You'll find your answer soon enough, for now just focus on getting to safety." Red was going to insist but was whisked away to reality. Red awoke to the sound of the harsh wind and rain. It must have begun to rain when he was asleep. Red was so confused at who the heck that was. Red coughed and more blood formed on his hand. "Right, family first, answers later." He smiled, "Don't worry Crystal, when have I ever let you down?"

For roughly a month he had been in Lilycove recovering and repeating the process. Jogging, training pokemons, attempting to find a psychic, but to no avail. Red's new pokemon had really been growing on him. They were loving, caring, and though they didn't speak English, they reminded Red a lot like his original pokemon, always being there for him. Red enjoyed every moment he had with his pokemon, but a mixture of homesickness and the dread of his own disease, was always right behind the corner to rear its ugly head. Red tried not to let it get to him for his Pokémon's sake, they hated it when Red was upset. Red had to stay strong for them and for himself, he couldn't allow himself to end up like last time.

Red awoke and found that Midnight and Luna were already awake. He climbed out of bed and found no one else was there. He looked around and found his fresh new clothe on the table he noticed he could wriggle his right hand. He decided that it wouldn't hurt to let his wrist out now. Red unwrapped his arm and closed his fist. He winced a little for the wrist must still be a little soft, but it wasn't broken. He grabbed the clothing and went to the bathroom, Midnight and Luna were right behind him. He looked at them and realize they probably wanted breakfast. He put his stuff down in the bathroom and went back downstairs to feed his pokemon he used whatever was left of the pokemon food and put it in the two dishes. The pokemon ate happily. "Luna, if anyone breaks in here that isn't Sapphire or The old man keep them at the door, if they mean harm, attack them," Red ordered as he hugged Luna. "I'm counting on you."

Red finished his shower put on his new clothing and opened the bathroom door to be greeted by his pokemon. Red looked at the time, 8:00 am. Red thought maybe Sapphire let him sleep in. Red walked outside. The day was warm and muggy. He scratched his cheek and jogged back to the rock. Sapphire was already there. "Hey," Red called as he approached, "Thought you get rid of me so easily?" Sapphire smiled at him, "Yeah actually I did." Red finally got to the rock and got a drink of water that Sapphire offered him. "Sorry I slept in," Red apologized between swigs of water. "Nonsense I let you sleep in," Sapphire said as she pulled a granola bar out of her bag. "I see your arm is better," Sapphire said, gesturing to Red's right arm. "Yup, then I'll just need my final pokemon and we can head off," Red said looking at his right hand. "Yeah, good I'm getting tired of looking after you," Sapphire said teasingly, "You should be someone else's problem." Red laughed, "Oh I'm sorry, and who was the one who saved us from those thugs?" Sapphire smiled back, "Luna saved us, and you didn't do anything, actually if I recall you were on the ground while this was going on."

Red and Sapphire laughed, and for once Red felt he enjoyed himself on this journey. Sapphire stood up, "Well come on then why not cut short on the meditation and skip right to finding you a psychic pokemon?" Red smiled and got up. Red hoped also that Midnight would evolve. They walked around the forest and came across a dock that lead to Mt. Pyre. "I heard there are some good psychic pokemon there maybe, we should stop by," Sapphire suggested. Sapphire threw out one of her pokeballs. A Lapras materialized. They got on board and set off to Mt. Pyre. "So what is Mt. Pyre exactly?" Red asked as they surfed there. "Oh, that's right you never been here, Mr. Pyre is a Graveyard," Sapphire said. "Graveyard?" Red repeated. Red had some pretty bad experiences with Graveyards. While he was in the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town, he encountered people that were possessed and said some pretty disturbing things and even a ghost of a Marowak attacked him. At the time Red didn't know what it was because he couldn't see it. He only was able to see it after obtaining the Silph scope. Red finally beat the pokemon and brought peace to the vengeful spirit. All that to save Mr. Fuji. They finally arrived and hopped off the Lapras. Red could only hope that this wasn't the same.

Of course knowing Red's luck bad things always follow the good. Because everyone was, just as they were in Pokemon Tower, possessed. Red decided now would be a good time to train Midnight, and for the most part he was right. Then the crazy psychopath came and attacked them. Everything was going fine Red battled a couple trainers and Midnight was gaining a lot of good experiences, but after fighting through everyone and finding a Kadabra and capturing it, it all went downhill from there. You see, Red's strongest pokemon was Luna, but Luna had no attacks that essentially affected ghost, and Kadabra wasn't obeying so Red couldn't see his potentials. So his only choice was Midnight. Midnight was a little on the weak side, and his only good attack against ghost and psychics was bite and crunch. "Okay," Red thought, "As long as he doesn't throw out a Dusklops I should be fine." "Go Dusklops!" "And I'm screwed," said Red. "Midnight use Will-O'-Wisp!" Red called out. If Midnight couldn't beat him the least he could do is add an effect that chips him off a little. Upon order blue flames began to light up in Midnight's mouth. He shot out the blue flames and in an instant, Dusklops was surround by columns of blue flames. "Dusklops use teleport!" The trainer said. On cue, the Dusklops began to glow with a brilliant pink and vanished. He appeared behind Midnight and hit him with a glowing fist knocking him down. Midnight got back up but had difficulty keeping his balance. "Midnight use Bite!" Midnight ran at the Dusklops and bit it on the arm. The Dusklops let a scream of unrestrained pain. The scream sounded like someone dying. Dusklops threw Midnight and Red ran and caught him. Red put Midnight down, "You okay?" Midnight let out a yip of appreciation. "Okay," Red said and smirked. "Midnight bite him again!" Midnight attacked the Dusklops but this time it was prepared it vanished and appeared behind him. "Dusklops, Use Hyper Beam!" Red had no idea what to do. The best strategy was to keep biting Dusklops in hope that he's almost dead. "Midnight, Use Crunch!" Red could only hope that Midnight could get there in time. Midnight charged the Dusklops who was preparing the Hyper Beam. "Now it's a matter of beating the clock," Red thought, "If Midnight got there before Dusklops finish charging, Midnight might have a chance." Red smirked, "Midnight scratch that, use Quick Attack!" Midnight barked obviously protesting that it wouldn't work. "Do It!" Red yelled. Midnight flashed with white and ran at the Dusklops with super speed. Midnight went through the Dusklops. "You thought that a measly Quick Attack would work, man you're as bad of a trainer as my little brother!" The trainer said tauntingly. Red smirked and though the battle was not being in his favor, Red showed utter calmness. "Midnight, Use Crunch," Red said, this time not yelling. Midnight under stood what Red was doing now. He landed his fang on the Dusklops and didn't let go. The Dusklops lost its focus and began to wave its hand around, trying fruitlessly to get the pokemon off of him. Finally, after sustaining an immense amount of damage, The Dusklops managed to get Midnight off. "Midnight, finish him off," Red ordered calmly. Midnight began to fade away in a dark haze and then vanished. "Use Faint Attack." Red ordered and in one swift motion, Dusklops was knocked down by a force from nowhere. Midnight reappeared by Red's side. "You did amazing!" Red said as he hugged Midnight. Then, Midnight began to glow brilliant white. He was evolving. The white light began to morph and in the Houndour's place was a full grown Houndoom. "Let's get going your Houndoom looks like it could use some rest," Said Sapphire.

Chapter 8

As Red walked home with Sapphire, There newly evolved companions were trailing behind them. Red knew now that they must be in love and now that they were both full form Red knew that they were meant for each other. They had perfect chemistry. Kadabra was walking alongside Red. Kadabra was beginning to warm up to Red after seeing how well he did fighting that Dusklops. "So what are you going to name your Kadabra?" Sapphire spoke up. Red had no clue, he couldn't really name his pokemon after its color otherwise it would've been "Dirt." Red let that thought go through his mind, "_Go, Dirt use psychic!" "You were great out there Dirt!" "You should be like Dirt."_ There were no name for events because truth be told Kadabra hasn't done anything yet. Kadabra psychic but there isn't much of a name for psychic types unless you count "Psy," But Calvin already has a Kadabra named Psy. Naming has always been a headache because if you end up naming it something ridiculous you end up regretting it. Red could go to the name rater but what good would that do, honestly, he still wouldn't have a name. "I'm going to have to think about it." Then a sudden memory came to existence. "Prometheus is the name," Red said, "Because Prometheus is the Greek Titan of Wisdom." Red looked at Kadabra, though it didn't say anything, it did seem pleased with the name.

When they got home, they were greeted by a house that was completely destroyed. The doors were destroyed, the windows were shattered, and the ground around it was completely burned. Red and Sapphire gawked at the house completely astonished. What person or better yet, what kind of person would do this. After snapping out of their shock they ran into the house. Everything was broken down, burned, or already in ashes. All except the table that is, the table stuck out in the house as completely unharmed. There was a slip of paper on it._ If you want him back meet me at the top of Mt. Pyre at Sunset._ Red and Sapphire looked at each other and something told Red they both had the same idea: The old man. They ran back to Mt. Pyre, The sun was just touching the western horizon. When they got to the top it was just nearing sunset.

They looked around there was no sign of anyone around. "Dammit who could have done this," Sapphire said finally talking after being silent for the most part. "Well, I don't know them entirely, but there are these thugs that have been following my family for a while now, but for all they know I'm dead, unless…" Red was interrupted by an abrupt memory. Where did those thugs that attacked them go? They were absent from where they had been when they returned. "When we fought those thugs on that rock, "Red said coldly, "They were part of that group." Sapphire looked at him, "You don't think they were looking for you?" Red didn't want to believe that this was his fault, something told him though that it was. "When we had beaten them they must have found out and told their master that I was still alive," Red said, "If that's the case then it was only a matter of time until they found me, I wasn't home but your father was, so they took him hostage." Sapphire was on the verge of tears, "But why are we in this?" "Because you're aiding him," A voice called from somewhere. They looked around and saw a man on an Aerodactyl, flying too them. "You," Red said coldly, "Where is the old man?" The man had a mask on but the mouth was able to seen. He smiled wickedly, "oh, you mean this man?" He snapped his finger and two flygons appeared from behind the mountain and dropped a body that was maimed horribly. Sapphire screamed loudly and ran for her father. Her father was breathing but only just, he wasn't going to make it very far if they dawdled. "Now this is how it's going to go," The man began, "I'll trade you the old man for Red." Sapphire looked at the man with pure hatred in her eyes, she pulled out a pokeball and an Alakazam appeared. "Alakazam get my father out of here," Sapphire said coldly. Alakazam glowed brilliant pink and grabbed ahold of the old man and vanished. "Red," Sapphire began. Red was sure Sapphire was going to let them take him. "Let's kick his ass," Sapphire said calmly.

Sapphire threw out her first pokemon. A nidoking. The nidoking roared with pure hatred for the man, somehow knowing exactly what had happened. Red threw out his first pokemon. Luna jumped on the terrace. The man frowned, "I was hoping you'd be more cooperative, no matter if it's a battle you want, well then it's a battle you will get." He threw out two pokeballs. The first one contained a Salamence, the other was a Dragonite. "Luna use hyper beam on Salamence," Red yelled out. "Nidoking use Body Slam on Salamence as well!" Sapphire yelled. On order both of them attacked Salamence who didn't stand a chance and fainted. The man threw out another pokeball containing Flygon. "Dragonite, Use Ice beam on the Nidoking," The man ordered, "Flygon use sky uppercut on the Mightyena!" They both carried out there order. Dragonite shot a light blue blast at the Nidoking and froze the pokemon. Mightyena was more agile and evaded the attack. "Luna, use Double kick!" Sapphire returned Nidoking and threw out a Manectric. Manectric use Thunder on Dragonite!" Manectric Roared and clouds began to form all around the mountain. A sharp crackle was heard as a bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and hit Dragonite. Dragonite fainted. Luna kicked the flygon twice and then used it as a bounce pad knocking it to the ground, "Luna use Hyper Beam on Flygon!" In a blast of energy flygon was defeated. The man frowned and landed on the ground and threw out one pokemon and called in Aerodactyl. The last pokemon was Omastar. "Omastar use Earthquake, Aerodactyl use Aerial Ace!" They both carried out their attack. The earthquake knocked out Manectric but Luna got up and barked defiantly. "Go Rhydon!" Sapphire called throwing her next pokemon. "Luna use Hyper Beam on Omastar!" "Rhydon, stop that aerial ace with Rock Tomb. Aerodactyl got close to using aerial ace on Luna but a large boulder knocked Aerodactyl out of flight. Meanwhile, Luna shot a beam of energy at Omastar and was launched back. "Omastar use Sheer Cold!" Omastar fired off an extremely cold blast of air that knocked out Luna instantly. Red returned Luna and threw out Prometheus. "Prometheus, use psychic on Omastar!" Prometheus closed his eyes and pointed his spoon at the pokemon. The Omastar began to float upward and went soaring at the trainer and fainted the pokemon. The Aerodactyl recovered from the boulder and attacked Rhydon with iron claw. Prometheus used psychic and blasted the pokemon off the face of the mountain.

"Now, what do you want with Red?" Sapphire asked, though it's difficult to act polite when you're staring up the face of a Rhydon. The man laughed, "Just because you beat me doesn't mean I'll stop my feat for control or tell you anything, tell Shredder and Shade that I'll come for them soon enough." Before Red or Sapphire could ask any more questions the man snapped his finger and Aerodactyl reappeared grabbing the man and flew off. Red sighed, "C'mon let's get back home, Prometheus use teleport."

Chapter 9

They teleported back home but realized they had no home to return too, now that it was destroyed. It was already night by the time they had reached Lilycove City. They walked into the hospital and went to Sapphire's father's room. He was resting in the bed he had gauze over his head. The old man awoke, "Hey how's it going," he asked in a ragged voice. "Sorry about what happened back there it's my fault you're in this predicament," Red said on the, verge of tears. "No, they were just thieves looking for things and I tried to fight them but they were too strong," The old man replied tiredly, then he fell asleep. Red turned and walked for the exit. "Wait, where are you going?" Sapphire called after him. "It's obvious they will stop at nothing to find me," Red said, "Obviously I need to separate myself from you before he comes back with more." "Where will you go then?" Sapphire asked. "I've heard that they have a luxury cruise liner in Slateport City that is going to be taking people to the Kanto," Red answered, "Since they will be passing right by the sight where I was 'killed' I might be able to find them."

Red threw out Prometheus. "Okay, be careful though, Red," Sapphire said. "Have I ever," Red asked teasingly, "You should head to a different city when he wakes up, Prometheus teleport me to Slateport." Red closed his eyes and when he reopened his eyes he was no longer in the dark, sleepy city of Lilycove, instead he was in Slateport. Slateport was quite different then Lilycove and seeming how it was on the other side of the region they were just getting sunset. It was bustling with cheerful shoppers. Slateport was a city known for their commerce and imports, so as you would suspect it was a fairly wealthy town especially since it was such a tourist magnet. He looked around and saw that Prometheus was completely exhausted. "Right, I forgot that teleporting across the region can do a number on you," Red said. He recalled his pokemon and brought it to the Pokemon Center. Red immediately ducked behind a plant. Those thugs were here, "Dammit, of all the places, they had to be here?" Red gritted his teeth out of frustration. They seemed to be talking about something. Red listened in, "Did you hear? They found that brat Red in Lilycove city," said one of the thugs, "Really? I thought he was blown out of the sky," replied the other. "He was, but apparently he survived," said the first thug. "Hmph, well if I ever see him I'm challenging him." And they walked out. Red walked out from behind the plants and gave his pokemon to the clerk. The clerk happily healed Red's pokemon and they headed out. He noticed that the port was bustling with people getting aboard the cruise liner "S.S. Anne," He read out loud. Red smiled, that brought back memories, "I wonder if the pilot that I helped is still on board." He saw that they were checking people for their tickets, he didn't have the money to get a ticket. "I guess then," Red said throwing out Prometheus, "Prometheus do you think you have enough energy to get me on board?" Prometheus grabbed Red's hand and teleported them to the front of the deck. He returned Prometheus and went to go find a room. He found a room and laid back on the bed. "I need to call them one more time," Red thought to himself as he shut his eyes and concentrated on the void.

He opened his eyes and found everyone was talking next to the fire he decided to just wait and listen. Gold grabbed a stick and poked the fire, "So what is our plan, since we know Red is alive we obviously need to go somewhere." "He said to stay where we're at, he'll find a way back," said Requiem in his normal hollow voice. "But we also need to stay secluded and with those 'Defenders of Peace' hot on our trail, they'll find us eventually," Said Skull-Mask leaning on a tree. "I say we follow Red's instructions and stay here," began Crystal, her eyes dark, and cold as usual, "And if we see any suspicious activity, we leave." "I agree," said Sparky, "I want to see Red as well." The rest of them nodded. Red grabbed Shades head, he had to broadcast his voice in there so they would know to just hang in there, "Red will be here shortly," said Shade with a blank expression, "He's on a cruise line that will be passing us soon." Everyone looked at Shade confused. "Shade, how do you know that," Shredder asked. "Red is speaking to me right now," Replied Shade blankly. Red began to feel the effects of exhausting his ability, he needed to wrap this up now, "Red can't talk for much longer he's on his way be patient." Red let go of Shade as he regained awareness. "What happened?" Shade asked obviously with no recollection of being possessed. "That settles it then," Crystal spoke up, "We stay here until Red gets here or that group shows up." Calvin looked around obviously confused with what just happened, "What did Red do just now?" "He possessed Shade," Requiem spoke with an impressed voice, "A very rare ability amongst humans but some are able to do it after a long time of training." Red at that point couldn't spend much time in The Void, he was beginning to get weaker. He woke up back in his bed sweating, with a splitting headache, and blood forming in his mouth. "Well," Red said happily, "I'm on my way I can just hope that nothing like what happened the last time we attend a cruise like this happens again.

Red walked around the ship enjoying the cruise but keeping an eye out for the island, he was sure when he would see it, and he knew the bond between his pokemon would shine brightly when he was close enough. He suddenly felt sick, "what if they didn't like me anymore?" He shook his head, "I can't think like that, I must keep faith in them. The ship had taken off while he was sleeping. He kept an eye out for any islands nothing but expansive waters. "Excuse me," one of the servants was standing behind him, "I need you to follow me." Red followed the servants but was on the verge of panic, what would the captain want with him, did he get found out? No, it was much worse the servant opened the door to the captain's deck, there were a bunch of men in masks and a man in particular that sat in the Captain's chair, the leader. "Crap, I was hoping for a quiet day," Red thought to himself. "You really have become an eye sore in my plan," the leader smiled coldly, "But now it ends here."

The leader snapped his finger and all the men raised their guns to Red, "Any last words?" The man asked. Red was going to hurl a final insult, to serve as his final words of wisdom, but instead was stopped by a familiar voice, "Dewgong, use sheer cold!" A blast of cold air erupted from the door way and knocked Red down. Red looked back and found a Woman with bronze hair, and blue eyes, covered by glasses. "Lorelli?" Red asked in utter shock. Lorelli was the first woman in the elite four. Lorelli smiled, "Hey there Red, fancy seeing you here." One of the thugs survived the sheer cold and picked up his gun to fire, "Machamp, use mega punch," Said a man behind Lorelli. Out of the blue a Machamp jumped on the deck and punched the man out the window. The man was stoic, muscular, and had a tan complexion, with black hair, and grey eyes, stood Bruno, "Hey there pipsqueak," Bruno bellowed in a deep voice. "What are you guys doing here?" Red blurted out. "Well, after the news went viral that the Champion of the Kanto league vanished we got worried," Lorelli began. "Afterward Lorelli's sister said she found Red and knew where you are and that you would be riding this cruise line, can you guess who it is," Bruno asked. "Sapphire," Red said amazed. "Correct, so we took the liberty of buying tickets for all of us to find you and help get back to your friends," Continued an elderly voice, Agatha. "When we got here we found you teleporting onboard so we decided to follow at a distance," finished another very familiar voice, Lance. "Wait but who got you together?" Red asked, "I thought you guys disbanded." "I was the one who got them together," came a very familiar voice. Standing in the doorway was none other than Blue himself. He looked at Red with his normal sarcastic Blue eyes, "Hey there, pal." Red never thought in millions of years he would be so happy to see Blue. Red got up, tears of joy ran down his face, "You guys are the best." "Look as much as we would like you to kiss our ass, we have much worse things to attend to," Lance interrupted, "They're attacking the ship."

Chapter 10

They ran out of the captain's deck and found a bunch of assorted Pokémon's were storming the ship. Red got ready to throw out his pokemons but was stopped by Agatha, "You have more pressing matters to attend to dear, your family has waited long enough." "Red follow me!" Blue was gesturing for him to come, "C'mon you slowpoke you wanted to get to your pokemon well this trip is on a short schedule!" Red followed Blue as they ran for the end of the ship Red concentrated on his old pokemon and a small rope began to from Red's heart and went pointing to an island on the horizon. "Take me there," Red said pointing to the island. Blue looked at Red confused but recovered after hearing those thugs behind him. He threw out a pokeball, His Blastoise. Red jumped on the back of the Blastoise and it sped off towards the island without the instruction of the master. They were really going fast to. Red was already close to the island. Blastoise slowed down to the shore and Red hopped onto the damp sand, "Thank you Blastoise," Red said as the Blastoise sped off towards the ship again.

Red tumbled through the jungle, dodging trees, jumping over logs, sliding down hills. Finally he heard faint talking. He shot through the jungle until he came across a clearing. The clearing was the same place Red would be when he went ethereal. "Gold? Skull-Mask? Crystal, where are you?" Red shouted hoping for a response. "Red?" He turned around and found Crystal pushing a piece of brush away from her. They ran and hugged each other. Red had been longing to hug Crystal ever since he had awoken a month ago. The moment was abruptly shot down from Crystal's fury. She grabbed Red's wrist and judo flipped him onto the ground, put her knee on Red's chest, produced a knife from her sleeve, and put it to Red's throat, "If you ever risk your life for me again, I will kill you myself." "I heed your warning," Red said laughing. Crystal got off Red and helped him up. They hugged again and then everyone else came out from hiding. Gold and Skull-Mask jumped from a tree, Red's pokemon just appeared thanks to Requiem's cloaking, Calvin and his pokemon were hiding where Crystal was hiding.

Now that Red was able to see Crystal without worrying about killing himself, he was able to finally pay attention to how Crystal looked. Crystal still wore the white scarf that Red gave her, the scarf has a chemical that cools down in hot temperature and heats up in cold temperature. She wore a Dark Blue Short sleeve Jacket, dark blue pants, a blue cape that gradually got brighter as it went down, and the cape was held together by an emblem that met in the middle, the master ball symbol. Crystal's still, light blue eyes, were darkened a little bit, her hair was still in a ponytail down her back with silver streaks running down the otherwise blonde hair. Everyone hugged Red, beside Calvin and his pokemon. Red didn't feel offended, they weren't really part of this family yet. "Okay now that I'm here we need to leave," Red said abruptly, "They're here." As if on cue three dragon pokemon flew from under the tree line and surrounded them. "Requiem, teleport us here," Red said as he showed him the map. "I'll need time," Requiem said. "We got this," Red said looking at Gold and Skull-Mask. Gold threw out his Quilava and Skull-Mask threw out his Sceptile. The pokemons went on auto-pilot and attacked with whatever they felt like. Requiem in the meantime was glowing brilliant pink as he prepared to teleport. He needed time because he was travelling a long distance with a large amount of people and pokemons to transport. Finally, Requiem gave the cue to grab on. Everyone held on to Requiem and they vanished. When they reappeared they were in a town with houses in trees. Fortree City. Red looked around and saw a familiar face. "Red?" Sapphire said in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

Red asked if they could come in. Sapphire obliged as they got into one of the bigger houses, as they walked in Red hugged Sapphire, "Thank you." Crystal looked at Red and then at Sapphire, then smiled, "You must be the one who treated my boyfriend while I was gone." Sapphire smiled, "Yup, you must be Crystal." "Crystal," Red said, "Do you want to take a walk with me?" Crystal looked at Red and smiled, "Sure." They walked to the lake that was just left of Fortree. They sat next to the lake and looked across the lake that brilliantlt reflected the full moon. Then for no reason but the fact that Crystal missed Red, Crystal kissed him. Red didn't resist it was on the long list of things that he's been wanting to do after he got back. He hugged Crystal, and for a long while they just shared that moment. After a while, they finally stopped and looked across the lake, "I'm glad you're back," Crystal said smiling at the lake, the brilliant moon shining in her pale blue eyes that casted a mystical glow. "I'm glad I'm back too," Red agreed.

"So what are we going to do now?" Crystal asked suddenly. Red gazed across the lake, he had an idea prepared, back in Kanto, but it was rudely interrupted by those damn people, "Well in my absent before that whole incident, I found a cave that had peculiar markings all around it," Red began, "I was not able to decipher the writing but I did find something rather interesting." "Like what?" Crystal asked. "I found an old monolith in the back of the cavern," Red said, "I wasn't able to see much because it was dark, so I asked my pokemon to use flash," Red paused, "Then the entire cave shook." "Did you get to see the painting?" Crystal asked inquisitively. "Yes," Red began, "The painting had a picture of four gems, two of which were a splitting image of the ones embedded into Shredder and Shade." "What about the others?" "Well one was red and the other was blue," Red fixated his eyes on Crystal, "I don't know what it could mean but maybe Skull-Mask might know, seeming how he has knowledge of everywhere in the Hoenn."

"Anything else peculiar after leaving?" Crystal asked. "Actually," Red began, "When I was travelling through the desert I found that one of the rock formations had changed." Crystal looked at Red curiously, "Changed how?" "You know that one rock formation with the small boulders surrounding one big boulder," Red began, "Well that big rock turned out to be a cave, and inside was a pedestal with identical language to that of which I found in the cave." "I'm thinking that maybe," Red paused, "Maybe there's some secret to that cave and Skull-Mask, of all people, would know it." "Okay, we'll leave in the morning," Crystal said standing up, "We should worry about getting some rest."

Chapter 11

For once Red could finally just focus on sleeping instead of worrying over his family, Crystal was sleeping next to him and Red's pokemons (That is the complete set now) are sleeping soundly next to the bed. This was a sight that Red missed. He sighed contently, "Finally I'm back." Red didn't have any peculiar dreams, no premonitions, and no visions, for once Red could actually just relax and sleep. When Red woke up he felt refreshed, relaxed, and revitalized. Crystal and all of Red's pokemons were already awake. He got out of bed and found everyone already eating in the dining room. They all greeted him, well almost all, Shredder was never fond of Red. Red ate his breakfast and got ready to head out. He said his thanks to Sapphire and they headed out. Sapphire stopped Red and gave him some Medicine, food, and water, "Since I won't be with you, you have to take care of yourself," Sapphire said. Then she flicked him on the forehead, "And don't forget, you have to battle me!" Red smiled, "I haven't." Sapphire softened up, "Then stay safe and for once try not to get yourself killed." And they headed out. As they were walking towards Route 111, The Desert Path, Skull-Mask spoke up, "So where are we heading," he said in his usual hollowed, sinister tone. Skull-Mask isn't his actual name but no one know what he's called because he wears a metal mask in the shape of a skull. "Are you familiar with any cave in Route 111?" Red asked. "Yeah there is the Regi's Cave. They say that an ancient golem guards that cave." Skull-Mask said, "But, why?" Red told Skull-Mask about his journey into the cave. "So you think that maybe the Pokemon inside there might be able to decipher the pedestal and tell us how to extract those gems?" Red asked. "Well," Skull-Mask said heaving a sigh, "Worth a try I could look around for clues on how to summon the Regi."

As they walked to the desert all the pokemon were enjoying the time walking. They were talking, playing, sparring. Red smiled at the sight. He always enjoyed pokemons enjoying themselves. That quickly ended when a group of people in masks walked from outside of bushes. They all froze, The Defenders of Peace have a way with ruining moments. Skull-Mask produced two knives from his sleeves and got into a combat stance. One of the agents pulled out a glowing red gem and held it in the air. Red realized it looked a lot like the gem from the painting. Then he it hit him, it WAS the gem from the painting. The gem glowed brilliant red, it was charging. At that moment, the gem grew an orb around it. The orb was of pure energy. That orb quickly expanded and launched them all into the air. Red lost track of time as he was soaring through the air. But he was quickly snapped from his shock when he hit water. He swam up to the surface and found that he was nowhere near where they had once been. He looked around and found a dark figure lying on the ground. Upon closer inspection Red realized it was Shade. He was beaten up pretty bad and judging by the state of the broken tree, Shade hit it pretty badly. Red grabbed some ointment from his backpack and hurriedly applied it to the wound on Shade's back. He then pulled out some gauze to stop the bleeding, cover the wound from infection, and to keep the ointment from running off.

Red was now on the verge of panic, he didn't know what to do. It was a dusty trail in one direction and forest in every other direction. He figured that if he followed the trail he could get an idea of where he was, but he didn't want to disturb Shade's body and hurt him anymore then he already is. He feared he had no choice though. He gingerly picked up Shade and held him in a straight position so Shade's wound wouldn't open up. Shade was not that heavy fortunately, but he still was a little difficult to grip. By the first hour of carrying Shade, Red was starting to grow a cramp in his arm. Shade stirred, and opened his eyes. He looked around, "Shredder!" He yelled and shook violently scratching Red on the check pretty badly. Red exclaimed in pain and knelt on the ground grasping his face. Shade jumped on the ground and realized what he had done. "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, please don't hurt me," Shade said timidly. "It's alright," Red said, "It's just a scratch." He pulled his hand from his face. A large red cut went across his cheek, towards his eye. He pulled out some rubbing alcohol and cotton balls. He doused the cotton ball and rubbed his face. Red cringed but then smiled. "See? I'm okay," Red said reassuringly.

Shade sighed and looked around, "Where are we?" Red put the items back in his backpack, "No clue, but you should stick with me until we find the others," Red said, "C'mon let's keep moving, this trail ought to lead somewhere." They kept walking until the sun went down then they set up camp. Red made a fire and brought out some food for him and Shade. They both ate in silence, not that they hated each other, Shade was one of the less hostile of Calvin's pokemon, the reason never quiet explained. Shade and Red hadn't really acknowledged each other's presence until now. Now that Red thought about it this is probably the most Red has been with Shade. "Hey Red?" Shade piped up. "Why does Shredder hate you?" Red gazed at the fire contemplating if he wanted to answer such a harsh question or not. "Could be many reasons," Red said, "I think the main reason though is because he doesn't trust me. Shredder always struck me as a protective type, always looking out for his family before looking out for himself," Red continued, "Not that I don't blame him, for a few reasons, he has reasons not to trust me." "You are hiding things?" Shade asked suspiciously. Red nodded but didn't answer, Red's face contorted into visible sadness and Shade knew that it was obvious he wasn't proud of it and he didn't want to know. "But we should get some sleep," Red said abruptly, "we're going to need all of our strength if we're to get back with the others.

Red awoke in the middle of the night to hear Shade shuddering, the fire was out and it was a particularly cold fall night. He looked at Shade with sympathy. He got up silently and took off his blanket and put it on Shade. Shade stopped, relaxed, and sighed contently. Red smiled and went back to his spot around the smoldering fire. He didn't sleep well, when he woke up he had a lot of mosquito bites and had caught a small cold from the lack of blanket. Shade, on the other hand slept pretty well. Shade gave Red back his blanket and he stuffed it back into his backpack and covered the fire so it didn't look any different from the ground. They walked the trail a little more until Red spoke up, "Why did you think I was going to hurt you?" Shade looked at Red with confusion, "What do you mean?" "When you had scratched me you were almost certain I was going to hurt you, why is that?" Shade looked embarrass, "Well you kind of looked like my previous trainer." Red stopped and looked at Shade puzzled. "You had two trainers," Red asked. Shade looked at Red and nodded, "Yes, he wasn't a very nice trainer either," Shade answered, "He punished us for losing battles, one time he found me expressing myself with another pokemon and I attacked him because he was hurting the pokemon that I was with." Red looked horrified, not because Shade attacked a trainer but because that trainer had attacked them because Shade was expressing himself. "That's awful," Red began, "Why would that trainer do such a thing?" Shade looked away already picturing the reaction of Red, "Well, it was with another male," Shade said timidly, "I'm a homosexual." Red stared at Shade and then got even angrier. Shade was sure now Red was going to take the trainer's side but then he said, "That's a stupid reason to do something so horrendous," Red said bitterly. Shade looked at Red with disbelief, "You're not mad?" "Why are you surprised?" Red said offended, "Love is a beautiful, sacred thing, and should be expressed with whomever you want, why should you have to be something that you're not?" Red asked, "No higher being regardless of their power or title can change who you are, you have the right to make your own choices, If God was as loving as they say he is, then he should also understand that we are not puppets, we are our own individuals. If you want to love another male then so be it. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't love someone." Red was now shaking in anger, "I absolutely hate it above all else when someone is persecuted just because he or she chooses to be different. Your Destiny is yours and yours alone and no one else's." Shade was looking at Red dumbstruck, though they hated each other, Red acted, and sounded a lot like Shredder. Shade smiled, "You know, I don't care about whatever you did in your past," Shade said, "I will not believe that anything heinous you did went without a good reason."

Meanwhile, Midnight, Luna, and Hunter have been travelling for a while through the cool colorful forest. Hunter was sitting on Luna's back and Midnight was next to Luna. "So where are we going?" Hunter asked, "I was studying the stars and found that we are somewhere in the Johto Region," Luna said, "We should follow this path until we find the next town." "Then what," Midnight spoke up his voice was deep, "We can't converse with humans." "Well I can," Hunter said, "I can ask around for directions." Luna giggled, "As tempting as that sound, a talking pokemon is going to attract a lot of unwanted attention." "Then what are we gonna do when we get to the town?" Hunter asked, obviously out of ideas. "Blessed, Requiem, and that new Kadabra will be looking for us," Luna said happily. Hunter sighed, he was kind of growing anxious of not knowing what to do, but it would seem that things worked themselves out. "So, Hunter how was your journey through Hoenn?" Luna asked. "Oh, it was fun, though I joined in the middle of the journey so I didn't get to see much of the beginning." Luna smiled, "So your Shredder's and Shade's child? Do they treat you okay?" "Oh yeah, they treat me fine and sometimes I get to spar with them, I always lose though," Hunter said flatly, obviously worrying about his parents. Then a question cropped up in his mind, "Hey Midnight?" "What is it," Midnight asked. "Why are you in love with a girl?" Midnight stopped suddenly, and looked at Luna who showed a similar unease in the turn of this conversation. "Oh right I forgot you were raised by two male pokemons weren't you, so it's only natural that you are confused with this different relationship," Luna said uncomfortably, must have slipped by Shredder and Shade to tell him about love or better yet he was too young to understand. "Well Hunter," Luna began, "Love doesn't always involve two men, sometimes men like women instead." "Well then what's the right decision," Hunter asked. Luna didn't like answering about love, especially to someone as young as hunter. Luna could handle children, she was the eldest sister of her family before she was caught, but love is an entirely different story, "There is no wrong path," Luna said, "You are free to make your own decision, though choosing to love a male means you won't be able to have a child that's actually related to you, women are the only genders that carry that ability. Don't be afraid to choose your own path. I'm sure you parents will understand you for wanting your own choice."

Meanwhile, Shredder, Blessed, and Skull-Mask, had been walking the trail in hope to run into a familiar face, but to no avail. Skull-Mask was leading the group with his Sceptile and Blaziken, Blessed was trailing behind Skull-Mask, and Shredder was tiredly trailing behind. Shredder got a little sloppy footing and tripped. In an instant, Blessed dashed and stopped Shredder from falling, "Are you okay?" Blessed said in a concerned voice. Shredder got his footing and pushed Blessed on the ground, "Get away from me!" Skull-Mask turned around, "What is your problem," He asked angrily, "Blessed was just helping you and you treat him like that? What is your problem with Red's pokemon?" "They're just as untrustworthy as Red himself," Shredder said with disdain. Skull-Mask marched right up to Shredder and punched him in the gut. "Don't you dare speak down to Red like that," Skull-Mask said scornfully, "This entire adventure, he has been throwing himself in front of the bullet to keep you and your family safe, and you treat him like this? It's a wonder he still saves you." "He's just waiting for the right moment to kill us," Shredder said on the ground. "Oh trust me, Red doesn't need a right time to kill someone," Skull-Mask said dryly, "Knowing Red as much as I do, I know he has the same capability as me, if not stronger, but he never uses them because he's concerned of their well-being." Shredder looked at Skull-Mask, "If he's so trustworthy then why does he keep secrets?" Skull-Mask looked at Shredder, his dark eyes piercing the soul of Shredder, "He only keeps secrets that hurt others," Skull-Mask answered, "If he felt it would make things worse he chose to leave it for another time." Shredder was surprised by how loyal Skull-Mask was to Red, Skull-Mask always struck Shredder as the cheater and double agent. Skull-Mask let out a hand to offer help. Shredder grabbed his hand and he pulled him up. "You shouldn't judge a book by its cover, Red has been through a lot worse than you will ever face. Shredder walked over to Blessed who was standing already, "I'm sorry, I'm a little stressed out," Shredder apologized whole-hearted, after all it was true. Shredder was longing to be back in Littleroot to relax, but ever since these damn gems had attached themselves to their chest, he's been a little on edge, "It's okay, I'm never good at holding grudges anyways," Blessed said happily, "Now, let's go find your friends."

Chapter 12

After twelve hours of walking, Red was getting kind of agitated of seeing trees and something told him, so was Shade, but alas, they had made it to a large clearing with multiple different path that led in different directions and in one of the path there was a cave that had been chiseled into the foot of a large Mountain Range, "This is Master's Mountain Range," Red said. He pointed to the tallest peak, "That's Mt. Silver, so that must be Champion's Cavern, so this must be Master's Fork in the Johto Region." Shade looked at Red obviously surprised he knew this much about the Johto Region. "I visited this place when I went to Mt. Silver," Red said, reading the expression of Shade. "So what are we to do now," Shade asked, "The others could be in there still." Red gazed upon the multiple trails, each one holding a different mystery, "We'll wait for two days, but that's it," Red said as he began to set up camp, "If they do not show, we head on to Hoenn Region."

Red set up camp, Shade paced around the trail in hope that some sign of them will show. "You shouldn't worry," Red said calmly, "If this is indeed the Johto Region then Gold will know what to do, in fact he's probably using Lugia and Ho-oh to look for the others." Shade nodded but that didn't stop him from worrying, what if they were blasted a further or shorter distance? Shade decided to just relax, maybe Red is right maybe he shouldn't worry, Red didn't worry when he was separated from his family and he got back, maybe it will work for him. "I saw a small swimming hole over there," Red said gesturing to a small blue glinting area behind the forest, "I'm going to go take a bath, stay safe, okay?"

Shade nodded and went to relax at the camp. He must've been pretty tired because when he opened his eyes, the sky was turning purplish, Red was in a cleaner change of clothing and was sitting next to a fire that was crackling, "Sleep well?" Red asked teasingly. "Yeah did anyone show up while I was asleep," Shade asked as he sat up. "No," Red said absently, "How's your abdomen doing." Shade didn't pay much attention to it, but now that he was, he realized it ached a little bit, "It's alright," Shade said, "It's aches but it's better than how it could've ended up." Red smiled and pulled a piece of bread wrapped in cloth from his backpack and gave a piece to Shade. Shade ate happily and Red watched the stars. It was an especially clear night out, and the stars shined brightly on the earth. A question cropped up in Shade's mind, he still didn't know what these gems did, but he had a feeling that Red knew. "Red," Shade said finally, "Why are you so set out on getting these gems off of us?" Red looked at Shade and for the first time, Shade didn't see the apathy in Red's face, instead, he saw pain. "Those gems," Red said finally, "As you know, give you incredible power." Shade nodded, it was true, when he needed an extra push, it would seem that these gems would do the trick, but he didn't see how this was necessarily bad. "But it comes with a price," Red said darkly, "Every time you use it, you put yourself at risk of losing control of yourself and you'll be back to your most feral instinct." "How's that possible," Shade asked, "How is it able to make us act feral again?" "There is no such thing as getting something out of nothing," Red said gazing at the fire, "When you need power, your gem fulfills that wish doesn't it? But it also needs something to give you that power, so it feeds off the Lugia and your emotions it takes up any negative feelings you have for someone and turns it into power, but it also amplifies how much you hate something and weakens how much you love something, until it's not even a memory." Shade was dumbstrucked, he didn't know what to think about this. Would that mean that he would forget about Shredder, Calvin, and Hunter? "I know this because these gems were the same things that killed my mother and friends and is why I resided on Mt. Silver for 15 years," Red said dully, obviously trying to suppress his emotions.

Shade was now looking at Red with pity, "Oh, I-I didn't know." He then thought the worst, what if he forgot Shredder and attacked him, what if he forgot all of his friends? Red obviously saw the panic on Shade's face and quickly try to calm him down, "But it can only do so if you use its power." That calmed down Shade a little, he's only used it twice in his life, but now that he knew this, he was going to try and abstain from using it anymore times. Shade sighed and finished his bread, which for some reason tasted stale now. Then a voice called out from the trail, Red almost knocked over his backpack getting up. In one of the trails Midnight, Luna, and Hunter were all walking towards them. Red sighed, thank goodness, he now had two of his pokemon. When they saw Red they ran to him barking excitedly. Red laughed as they toppled him over. Hunter ran to Shade and hugged him, Shade obviously relieved to see his child safe, licked him affectionately. Midnight and Luna couldn't speak English seeming how Red had to teach his original three for two years to be able to speak fluent English, but that didn't mean he couldn't understand what they were saying. They walked to the fire and sat, and for once I think the ice between Red and Shade has broken up a little bit. They didn't seem as awkwardly acquainted as before. Red was tired from walking so he decided to head to bed now that he was just a little more relaxed that some of his pokemons were okay so he gave his pokemon food and lied next to the fire.. Luna, Shade, Midnight, and Hunter were all left to talk alone. "So was Red any trouble, Shade," Luna asked. This struck Shade as weird, he was certain that Luna would've been asking Red if he was any trouble, but no, he asked Shade if Red was any trouble.

"No," Shade said, "In fact he helped me heal up." Shade brandished his bandaged on his back. Hunter looked at the bandage, "How did you get hurt," Hunter asked concerned. "I flew into a tree," Shade said nonchalantly. Luna smiled, "Well, it's good to know that you are alright now." Shade was kind of confused with why Luna shared concerned about him. Luna read his expression, "I care a lot about other pokemons and since you are also a Mightyena, I sort of treat you like my sibling." "Did you guys run into anyone else while you were walking," Shade asked. "No," Luna said. Shade was starting to get worried of Calvin, Pyro, Torpedo, Shredder, and even Psy. Hunter and Midnight were sparring, Hunter firing as many lightning bolts at Midnight, as he simply faded into darkness and appeared behind him. Midnight didn't attack Hunter but he kept dodging. For the first time in a long time, Luna was content. Red was always happy with Luna but he always looked… missing. Ever since he reunited with his original family, he looked more complete. He was more carefree, happy, and cheerful. Midnight noticed it to.

Shade and Luna simply watched the fire crackle when suddenly they were startled to see Crystal, Gold, and Calvin all walking from a different path. Shade ran up to Calvin and they both shared there relief, Crystal walked over to Red and laid next to him without disturbing his slumber. Gold looked around expecting to see everyone. He sighed and threw out Ho-Oh, it squawked loudly. "Ho-oh," Gold began, "Get some rest we'll leave in the morning when the sun is brightest." "Where are you going," Calvin asked, "There are still others in the forest," Gold said, "I will have the best chance at seeing them, seeming how I can see another's life-force pretty well." Calvin nodded and they both walked towards the fire. Midnight walked over to Red and laid down to rest along with Luna. This left Calvin, Gold, Shade, and Hunter. Gold sat down and pulled out his two pistols and cleaned them. He was an accurate marksmen but he rarely used bullets, usually, darts were his main source of ammunition. "Hunter," Shade said as he cleaned Hunter, "You should be getting some rest you'll need all your strength if you're to get through Champion's Cavern. Hunter nodded and went to a small area that was next to the fire and laid down to rest. "So Shade," Calvin said, "How did Red treat you?" Shade could tell by his voice that he shared similar disdain for Red. Shade remembered what Red had said, "_He has reasons not to trust me," _Red had said. "He helped when I was hurt," Shade said with a tinge of protectiveness in his voice. Calvin flinched and looked at Red's sleeping body. For a moment, Shade saw anger, but that slowly dissipated to forgiveness. "Where is Shredder," asked Calvin. "Haven't seen him yet," Shade replied grimly, "But if Gold's going to search the forest, I'm sure he'll find him." Calvin regarded Gold with respect, for some reason, Calvin wasn't as distrustful towards Gold as he is to Red.

After a while of tired talking they all went to sleep. Red awoke early in the morning and found that the sun was just beginning to rise. He looked over to his side and saw Crystal sleeping soundly next to him, he smiled and quietly arose. Gold was watching the sun as it was just beginning to shine its light. Red walked up to Gold and they both exchanged their pleasantries. "Are you going to look for the others?" Red asked. "Yeah," Gold answered, "I would have the best chance of finding them." Red nodded and continued to watch the sunrise. "Would you like to come with?" Gold asked turning to Red. Red pondered the thought, though he really didn't know why. Red wasn't sure why he needed to ponder this question, he did want to go. "Sure," Red said. When the sun fully rose Red left a note by his bed saying that he'd be back. They got on Ho-oh and sped off.

Chapter 13

It was a fast flight but it was definitely comfortable. Red was always astounded by how you didn't get hit with the G-Force that would've come with that flight but almost felt like they were defying gravity. Gold looked over on his left and Red looked on the right for any sign of Skull-Mask, Shredder, Blessed, Pyro, Torpedo, Sparky, Requiem, Psy, and Prometheus. Finally they found movement. It was Skull-Mask, Blessed, and Shredder. They banked to the left and landed a little in front of them. Red ran to Blessed and they both hugged each other. Blessed has a kinder spirit than his other pokemon. He always tried to find a peaceful solution to things, but if anything happened to Red or his pokemon, Blessed was the first to strike and he would strike hard. Gold walked up to Skull-Mask and they both hand shook, they're formal that way. After they had finished, Gold told Skull-Mask that they were pretty far and that they should fly the rest of the way. Blessed understood and got ready to fly. Red and Gold got on Ho-oh, Shredder and Skull-Mask got on Blessed. They both went their separate ways. Not long after they had taken off they found Pyro, Torpedo, Sparky, and Requiem. They stopped by them and picked them up. "Great, now all we need to do is find Psy and…" Gold paused. "Prometheus," Red finished. It had just occurred to Red that he hasn't give his family the proper introduction to his pokemon. Red added that to his proverbial to-do list right above teaching his Midnight and Luna to speak English that is if he will be alive then. His chest began to burn, it was a constant reminder that he's on a time limit. As they flew around Master's Fork, Red couldn't help but appreciate its beauty. Red had thought that it was just a forest, but when in the sky he could distinctly see flowers, mountains, lakes, and pretty much anything any pokemon could want. They had been flying for what felt like forever until they finally found Prometheus and Psy walking on the trail. They banked and landed in front of them. Prometheus looked relieved. "Do you not like him or something," Red asked. "No he's fine, but…" Red drew back, "You can speak?" Prometheus disregarded Red's surprise. He glanced around to make sure no one was looking, "He was supposed to be dead hundreds of years ago." Red froze, an eerily cold wind blew past them. "Tell me what you mean when we get back okay," Red said quietly. He Poker-Faced his way back to the camp. Red was relieved to see everyone was back safely. When they got back Shredder approached Red awkwardly, "Hey Red?" Red turned back and saw Shredder, "What is it," He asked suspiciously, it was unlike Shredder to talk to Red. "Thank you… for helping Shade," He said quietly and walked away quickly.

Red rewound that in his mind probably a hundred times before he actually began to soak it in. "Did… that just happen," Red asked surprised. Skull-Mask finished dusting off Prometheus, "Yeah It would seem that it did," Skull mask said equally surprised. Shredder never says thank you to Red, even when he took a bullet for him that one time. His shoulder began to hurt thinking about that story. Even then Shredder showed only minor concern. No "Thanks for rescuing me for the umpteenth time," he simply forgot about it. Now he's thanking Red for saving Shade. Red remembered that Shade said he was a homosexual. "Could it be?" Red closed his eyes and concentrated on the spot between Shredder and Shade. When he opened them he found that a thick golden rope was in between them. Red finally knew what was going on. They were in love. Red felt so stupid not being able to see it, but in his defense he was never a love expert, especially something as "Forbidden*," as this. (*Out of story: I put quotation marks there because there is no such thing as forbidden love, I was referring to how a lot of people would react to something against all animal instincts, and since pokemons were pretty much animals, I compared their behavior to that of an animal).

Red decided now that they were finally together after being separated (for the umpteenth time) they decided to camp here for the night so they could safely be with each other. Now that Red knew the relationship between Shredder and Shade, he wasn't as comfortable with them. Maybe it was just the fact that this was an entirely different thing. Red had been with pokemon for 25 years and never has he stumbled upon homosexual pokemon. This opened his eyes that not everything is black and white as people want it to be. Sometimes people will take that monotonous cover off the world and see a completely different underside. Red didn't care in the slightest if they were gay, it was just the fact of seeing things differently. When something overwhelmingly different enters humanity's otherwise monotonous life, sometimes it takes humanity some time to adjust. Red suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. What if they attack each other because of the gems? "That wouldn't happen," Red thought to himself, "The last time they used it, it didn't do that, so why would it do that now?" Red pondered the thought and the chill subsided. If they were reverting back to feral instincts when they use those gems, they would have attacked each other, so why didn't it. Red was so deep in thought that he barely even heard Shade calling him. He looked up startled and found everyone looking at him. "What," Red asked, "Did you say something?" "Yes I was asking if that was right what you told me about these gems." Red looked around and found Calvin had a face of what looked to be fear. Red swallowed down his fear of freaking everyone out and spoke rather bluntly, "Yeah it's true, using those gems will cause you to forget your friend, and may even cause you to attack them, but only if you use the power." Everyone looked at him wonderingly, probably wondering how he knew this. Red didn't feel like telling them about his past right now. He had enough trouble telling Shade.

For the moment they shared innocent small talk, telling stories about what their three days were like there. Red was surprised to hear that Skull-Mask had punched Shredder. Red knew that Skull-Mask was a stricter trainer then Red, Gold, and Crystal, but punching was beneath him. He was a little more than distraught that Shredder had pushed Blessed though. He didn't let his anger show through, he didn't like being angry. Prometheus was eating silently away from the group, and Red just realized he wanted to hear that story about Psy. Prometheus was the only pokemon amongst the three that could talk in his group at Hoenn. He sat across from him, "So what do you mean Psy should be dead?" "Psy was once part of a royal clan of human and pokemon. They worked alongside each other as partners not like how we do now. They didn't have pokeballs at the time." Red pondered a world without pokeballs, sounded so foreign to him. "One day an evil Alakazam had attempted to usurp the throne that was also an Alakazam. The damage from the after mass was so horrific that there was no evidence that it even existed afterwards. The Alakazam and the king fought each other, when finally Psy, or Sarensteen tried to help. Sarensteen was the son of the king and the heir to the throne. When he tried to help, he was launched into the air and was lost at sea." Red glanced at Psy, "Okay two questions," Red began, "First of all, how do you know this? Secondly, how would you be able to tell, I mean you said this was what, like a hundred years ago? He could've only been an abra at the time and must've been in a coma or something." Prometheus looked at Psy, "I know this because I was alive at the time, and I know it's him because even when abras evolve into kadabras they maintain the same thought wave, I was able to read his thought wave and I remembered it from before." Red looked at Prometheus, "Wait, hold up, how were you alive back then, you would've been an alakazam if that was true." Prometheus looked at his hands, "That would've been true, but you forget that abras sleep through a large percent of their day, and not only that they have an ability to fall into a deep slumber for days, weeks, month, even years."

"So how old are you then," Red asked. "Not even I know that," Prometheus said miserably. Red pondered whether or not that information held any weight towards their current objective. "Well, we should keep this from Psy for now," Red decided standing up, "No telling what this kind of affect this information could have on him." Red walked back to the group and sat down next to Crystal. She smiled and held Red's hand. "So what's our plan now, Red," Shredder asked bitterly. Red was sure that they had to get back to that desert, but he didn't want to risk them getting separated again, this time in a worse environment. They were lucky this time, but what if next time it launches them in different regions altogether. Red didn't want that to happen again. "We need to get to those Regis," Red began, "But I'm not sure where to start, we know now that they got another one of those gems, and by the look of it, we could end up losing a lot more than each other if we run into them again." Red said darkly. There was an uncomfortable shift in the mood of the group, it went from happy and cheerful, to quiet and uneasy. Red, for once, didn't know what to do. He didn't want to risk losing his family again, but he also wanted to find a way to get those gems off of Shredder and Shade as quickly as possible. He would've kept thinking had Skull-Mask had not threw the knife.

Chapter 14

Red was stunned as a small silver glint had passed not an inch from his face. He looked at Skull-Mask, who had pulled another knife out of his sleeve and ran at Red. Red was so confused, it wasn't like Skull-Mask to attack without reason, especially to attack his own friend. Everyone seemed equally confused. Before Red could get his wits about him. Skull-Mask tackled him to the ground. Skull-Mask pulled out a knife and put it to his neck. "What the hell, Skull-Mask?" Gold said, pulling out his two pistols. Even with his mask, Red could sense that Skull-Mask wasn't himself. Skull-Mask wasn't the type to attack recklessly. Then Red had remembered something Skull-Mask had vowed when he joined his team, "_No matter what happens I will never hurt you, or your pokemon. I vow never to betray you_." Skull-Mask was also one that never went back on his word. Some sort of silhouette formed behind a tree. It was a Bannette using possession. Red knew that he couldn't let anyone attack the Bannette or it will cause damage to the host. He had to break through to Skull-Mask. Red smiled, "I see Skull-Mask, I knew at one point your loyalty will run out for me," Red said grabbing Skull-Mask hand and pulling the knife closer to his neck, "I knew the idea of your human absolution wasn't true, I should've known that you weren't always to your word." Skull-Mask hesitated, he pulled his knife away. The Bannette began to fidget, it was struggling to keep control. Skull-Mask put the knife back against Red's throat. Red was probably doing the best acting he has ever done, "I only should've guessed that you were going to kill me when you get the chance, after all I did betray you, If this is my punishment, then so be it, Kill me." Skull-Mask finally broke through, He pulled the knife away from Red and got up. The Bannette had fainted from the immense amount of stress that is caused when it get forced out of a body. "Do you have a death wish or something?!" Skull Mask asked angrily. "No but that was the only way I could harmlessly get to you, I knew if you were really Skull-Mask you wouldn't actually do it," Red said calmly, "You promised, and knowing you, you would never break a promise." Skull-Mask didn't answer but Red could tell he was getting sentimental. "Wait what just happened," Gold asked putting his pistols away, "Why did you attack Red?" "A common ghost ability is the ability of possession," Red explained, "A Bannette was hiding in the trees and had taken control of Skull-Mask, I didn't say anything because causing damage to the possessor, will cause damage to the host."

"Okay, Will Skull-Mask be okay?" Gold asked looking over Skull-Mask carefully. "I'll be fine," Skull-Mask said sharply. "What caused the Bannette to attack?" Crystal asked. Red had a pretty good clue what made it attack but he really just wanted a night to rest and not have to worry about the Defenders of Peace. "We should camp just inside the cave, they won't find us in there," Red said packing up. Once they had finally packed up they got inside the cave and found a nice little area that's far from the entrance, and hidden. Red really didn't need to set up a fire, the musky cave was warm by itself. They set up some sleeping bags and took shifts watching. Red and Shredder were the first watch. They were silent for the most part, not daring to talk to one another. "I meant what I said about Shade," Shredder said, "I'm grateful that you saved him." Red watched the entrance, "I understand that you dislike me," Red said dully, "That takes a lot to say thank you to someone you hate, trust me I know." Red was thinking about Blue rescuing him when he was aboard that ship. Blue was his rival, why would he help him? That was the only thing that Red thought about for the last couple of days with his friends. Why would someone, so keen on making Red's life hell, want to help him. Red smirked, he witnessed for once in his life, a human who would put aside his vengeance and help his enemies. "I want to know your history Red," Shredder said now staring right at Red. Red looked at Shredder, he really didn't want to share something as depressing as that. He feared though, any more things to hide will cause problems, he was already on a tight rope with Calvin's group, he didn't need this to snap it. Red sighed and prepared his nerves for the story.

Red told his story all the ways from the beginning, he told Shredder about Blue his rival, his hometown, his first pokemon, a Charamander, he told him about his journey throughout the Kanto and how happy he was at the time. When he finished telling him about the Elite four, he paused, this was when the story got dark. He gave a shaky sigh, this was when things went downhill. "What's wrong," Shredder asked concerned, this was a first for Red. "Oh, this is where there was supposed to be a happy ending for my life," Red said looking down, "This is where I'm supposed to say 'I finally decided to just settle down and finish my Pokedex and then retire with my pokemon and live happily ever after' but I can't." Red felt a tear form on his eye, "After I got finished travelling the Hoenn region, I caught all the pokemons I could but when I got back," Red paused as a tear ran down his face, "My mother had committed suicide along with all my friends." Shredder gasped, and for once I didn't see anger on his face, but instead I saw surprised, concern, and sadness. "After I got the news I was so in shocked I didn't know what to think, I wasn't able to eat, I wasn't able to talk, I wasn't able to live." Red put his face in his hand. He never thought he would ever have to tell this story again. He wasn't the kind to open up to a stranger. "After I had finally recovered from my depression I decided to investigate the suicide," Red said drying his face, "I wasn't going to believe that everyone associated with me had committed suicide for no reason, I looked at the pictures of the scene and found that a gem was present in every picture, upon closer inspection I found that they were a black, or a gold gem." Red pointed to Shredder, "The same gems that are embedded in Shade and you." Shredder looked at his chest where the glimmering gem was attached. "Don't worry the gem obviously has something planned for you still," Red said blatantly. "After I found those gems, I realized they are the doing of some being beyond any of my pokemons power," Red continued, "So I decided to reside to Mt. Silver and train. Mt. Silver is known to be the ultimate trainer challenge."

"Now you know my story," Red said, skipping the disease, "To soon," Red thought to himself, "What do you think of me now." Shredder wasn't able to stay angry at Red, he had been through far too much to be dangerous, and he had told probably one of his most depressing truth. Whatever was forbidding Shredder to like Red was now shattered, he now understood why Red was so Keep-to-Himself. Shredder opened his mouth to say something but closed it immediately, he was unable to speak to Red, he had treated him with such disrespect that he was ashamed to even look at him, "I'm sorry that I treated you so badly," Shredder said. "Don't be, you had every right to not trust me, and you had every right to hate me, you were looking out for your family," Red said now looking ahead, "You remind me of myself, always looking after your family, regardless of your own life." They didn't say anything from then on, the hardest part of the ice had broken, but there was still a large part of ice that needed some time to melt. Red didn't care he was glad that for once he didn't have to worry about Shredder not trusting him. They sat still until the new shift took place for the hour. It was Crystal and Shade. Red went to his bag and passed out almost immediately. His dream was vivid, he was standing in front of a strange rock formation where the Defenders of Peace were all inside. He walked into the cave and found that they were trying to destroy the place. He listened in on one of the people, "If we destroy this they won't be able to get those pokemons stronger," One announced, "Then we'll be able to deal with them and their evil powers." Red froze, "Evil powers? What if this does enhance their power instead of take them away?" Red was breathing heavily, he didn't have to worry because this was just his ethereal body (Sometime it takes trips without his consent). A form appeared in the cave, "Don't worry you have time Red," Red turned around and saw himself, but he was different, his eyes were filled with darkness and power, "Go to Rustboro you'll find another." Before Red could say anything, he could hear an echo that sounded like Crystal, it must've been an hour and she was just settling down to rest, Red forced himself back to his body.

When Red woke up the new group was Skull-Mask and Calvin, they were talking and laughing. Something Red hoped he could see more of this in the future when they weren't being followed. Red fell back to sleep but didn't have leave his body this time. When he awoke Skull-Mask was the only person awake and was watching the entrance. Red walked up to him and sat down next to him. "Are you okay," Red asked. "I could've killed you Red," Skull-Mask said hollowly, "Had I not been able to control myself." Red smiled, "I know you wouldn't though because you have the strongest will over any of us." Skull-Mask laughed, rare sight. "You always were so faithful in us, and I never understood why," Skull-Mask said. Red looked at the ground, "I've always felt that over any trainer you, Gold, and Crystal were the most trustworthy people I knew." They watched the entrance waiting for the other people to wake up. Once they had awoken, Red produced food from his backpack and they all ate happily. "So are we heading back to the Regis," asked Shredder, no longer with that bitterness, which surprised Shade a lot. "I had a premonition and saw that they are heavily guarding the cave to Regi's Cave," Red said bluntly. "Okay then what are we doing," Shade asked, "We can't do that again." Everyone else nodded in agreement. Red continued, "There are more than one Regi cave." Everyone looked at him "Really? Where," Skull-Mask asked, Red pulled out a map and pointed to a small area off the shore of Rustboro City. "Well, if we're all in agreement let's head off to that Regi cave," Said Red and they all headed off.

Chapter 15

Walking through Champion's Cavern wasn't exceptionally difficult and there were no trainers to slow them down, so they were feeling pretty confident. They found an exit that was the Entrance to the Hoenn Region. The man guarding the place was about to question them, but as soon as he saw Skull-Mask he stepped down. Skull-Mask was well respected in Hoenn for being the strongest trainer alive, winning the league in the Kanto, Hoenn, and Johto. They all threw out their flying pokemon and took off to Rustboro City. As they flew, they saw Rayquaza flying around Sky Pillar. Shade and Shredder stared at the pokemon for a while, they were remembering how Rayquaza had attacked them, and ruined their chance to be Hoenn Champion. Technically, it wasn't Rayquaza's fault. Rayquaza was being possessed by a spirit, still unbeknownst by the others. Skull-Mask regarded the pokemon but kept flying on ahead. When they had reached Littleroot City, Calvin asked if they could stop by to say hello to his brother and sister-in-law. Biggest mistake.

When they flew down, they could already tell something was up, Littleroot had obviously been on fire, the houses were destroyed, the research center was destroyed and there wasn't a single sign of life. When they set down, Calvin got off completely dumbstrucked. He walked into his house, which was still smoldering, the house reminded Red of the state in which Sapphire's house was in, broken, burned, and destroyed. There was no sign of bodies, which meant to Red that either they're safe or they're captured, for obvious reasons, he decided to keep this thought to himself. Calvin collapsed and began to weep. Red tried to comfort him, but then he spun around and yelled, choked up on tears, "This is your doing, if you hadn't have showed up my home wouldn't have been destroyed!" Red backed up, "Calvin you need to calm down I know how you fe-" "You have no idea how I feel," Calvin interrupted, "You didn't have your family taken away from you, YOU didn't have your town destroyed." Shredder looked at Calvin as if he had just killed someone. Red almost looked angry but that turned back to apathy, and he walked out without another word. "Red!" Crystal shouted after him.

Gold walked up to Calvin and punched him in the face, "As a matter of fact he did," Gold shouted, "He lost more than you can boast in your life, he's lost his mother, his father, his friends, and even some of his pokemon!" Calvin was now on the ground completely petrified of what he just heard. He might as well have poured acid in Red's ear and then light his ear on fire. He looked at Shredder and Shade, they just watched this play out. Skull-Mask was standing and for the first time Calvin could see visible surprised on his metal face. Gold and Skull-Mask walked leaving Calvin to his pokemon. Calvin finally recovered from his shock, and got up. "I think you should apologize to Red," Shade said. Calvin ran out and found Red sitting with Blessed. When he approached Red he looked up at Calvin apathetically and went back to staring in the distance. Calvin would've sat down until Sparky, Red's Pikachu, jumped from out of nowhere, "Haven't you caused enough trouble for Red?" Sparky said scornfully. "Sparky," Gold was next to his Ho-Oh, "Leave them alone." "B-but he"- "I know," Gold said. Sparky walked shooting one last look of pure hatred at Calvin. Calvin wasn't quite sure what to say, because truth be told, there isn't much of an apology you can say for this kind of thing, _"Hey, sorry about reminding you about your past which you've probably been trying to forget for a long time."_ "Red?" Calvin asked a little scared to sit down, "I'm really sorry about what I said, I didn't mean it." Red looked at him, "No, you meant it, what you mean to say is that you were going through a tough time and that you lashed out on me because I tried to comfort you, but you were to much under stress to differ help from insult," Red said indifferently. Calvin couldn't help but admire Red's ability to conceal emotions, "Yeah, that's more what I meant, but I truly am sorry about what I said." Red stood up and looked at Calvin, "I accept your apology, I realized what you're going through is hard but you must realize that turning against your friends is going to be your biggest mistake," Red walked past Calvin and stopped, "If you turn now, your pokemon won't be able to stay strong, believe it or not, there only strong if you are. It's your turn to look after your family," Red said and walked off. Calvin should've felt fulfilled now that he apologized but instead he felt worse.

Red got on Blessed and said, "I'll be waiting in Rustboro find me when you get there," and sped off. Gold, Skull-Mask, and Crystal watched him fly by. And then they got on their assorted flying pokemon. Calvin got on Lugia, and they sped off. When they reached Rustboro Red was waiting for them at the shore. "Good, you made it, ready?" Red whistled and a Lapras sailed towards him. "Friend of mine gave me transportation." He jumped on the Lapras and they sailed off, Skull-Mask threw out Swampert and they sailed off alone. Gold threw out Suicune and got on him, and they sailed, or rather, hopped across the water. Crystal threw out her pokemon, Kyogre and jumped on Calvin had no ride and just stood there. "Well, are you coming or not," Crystal asked. Calvin nodded and got on.

Kyogre was a fast swimmer and they were already approaching a cave in the middle of the ocean. Red, Skull-Mask, and Gold were already inside. Skull-Mask and his Blaziken were tapping on the stone on the back of the cave for some reason, Red was feeding Lapras and his pokemon, and Gold was sitting on a stone in the cave playing what looked like some sort of ocarina, the melody was beautiful. Crystal went over to Red and began to talk to him. Calvin decided to just stay out of the way, he wasn't really in the mood to talk to any of them. His pokemon went to go hang out with the others so he had time to just ponder.

Gold noticed Calvin sitting alone and went to join him. Gold was somewhat like Blessed, gets angry when his family is attacked or hurt, but easily forgives those who mean it. "Sorry about the way I acted," Gold said, propping a spot next to him. "No, I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that," Calvin said looking ahead. "It's not your fault entirely, you were already on edge because we have brought you into this mess, and then top that off with the fact that your town was demolished? That wasn't entirely overreacting," Gold said. Gold has a way with making people feel better just by talking to them. He was kind and smart, but he could be deadly if he needs to be. "So what did happen to Red," Calvin asked. Gold watched Red who was laughing with his pokemon. "His family, friends, and some of his pokemons were killed by those gems," Gold said coldly, "When he found out about this, he made it a vow to hunt down the gems and stop them from hurting anyone else, we're the only family he's got now, which is why he's always ready to stick his body in front of the bullet for us, he doesn't want to lose us." Calvin looked at Red, behind that mask of apathy, was really a very sensitive soul, who was trying to save him. "Hey I think I found the way in," Skull-Mask called to them. They all gathered in the back of the cave. In hindsight it looked like a normal part of the wall, but when Skull-Mask tapped it, there was a hollow echoing from behind the rock. Plus, the wall was cold compared to the surrounding rock. "This would have to be it," Skull-Mask said positively. "Okay, now the question is how to get in," Red said.

Skull-Mask felt the wall and found that there was an ancient language carved into the stone. "I don't know what to think of this," Skull-Mask said, "Gold, you're good with language, why don't you try." Gold approached the stone and looked at it, "I think this might be Braille," Gold said, "If not then in ancient time people had a strange way of writing things." They all looked at each other expecting someone to know braille. "Well, maybe Alakazam, Prometheus, or Psy know," Red suggested. "Why would they know," Calvin asked. "Because they are known to have knowledge on almost all things, maybe Braille is one of them," Red said. The three psychic pokemons approached the engravings. Crystal's Alakazam leaned up against the wall and began to walk alongside the cave. Everyone looked at the silent Alakazam, "What is he doing," Calvin asked. "He must have figured out what to do," Crystal said. "Should we stay where we're at," Red asked. "I think that would be best," Skull-Mask said. Alakazam passed by the entrance to the cave and kept walking tightly against the edge. As Alakazam made his way around, there was a slight popping sound. They looked at the wall and saw that is was cracking.

The wall began to crumble and at the exact moment Alakazam stepped in front of the ruined wall, it crumbled completely. "Good job, Alakazam," Crystal said. He nodded without a word and walked inside. Inside was exceptionally chilly. A large accumulation of frost has crystalized on to the walls, the floor was covered in strange ice that was warm. In the center was a peak of ice that jutted out from the rest of the ground. A weird Chandelier-like ice formation was on the roof. It looked a lot like a snowflake, perfectly symmetrical on both sides. "It's beautiful in here," Crystal said awe-struck. Red agreed, it was beautiful, the slightest bit of light reflected off the surfaces of the cave making beautiful, light blue reflections on the wall. "Don't lose your head," Skull-Mask said sharply, "We're here for a reason, look around for the target." They all looked around for any sign of the pokemon. Skull-Mask approached the peak in the center of the room. He pulled an ancient red object out of his pocket, a Pokedex that hasn't been used in a while. He scanned the area when suddenly the Pokedex beeped when he pointed it at the peak. _"Regice, the Ice Golem pokemon, its entire body is made of Antarctic ice. After extensive studies, researchers believe the ice was formed during an ice age."_

"This is it," Skull-Mask putting his Pokedex away and pulling a pokeball. "Go," Skull-Mask said dropping his pokeball on the icy surface as it opened. Standing in front of Red was a large four legged monster with an X on its face, round head and jutting joints that made the knee. It was a Metagross. "Metagross, use Meteor Mash," Skull-Mask said calmly. Skull-Mask pointed at the ice peak and Metagross obeyed, he jumped into the air and pulled his leg into a pyramid shape, and slam down on the ice peak, completely obliterating it. Out from the mass came a large moving ice shard. Regice had a weird pattern on its face which must have been the eyes. They were dots in the form of a cross-section, the left and right band had an extra dot, suggesting that the cross section was on its side. "Well," Skull-Mask said calmly, "There he is." Calvin was moving around blankly wondering if he should help. He watched the four pokemon trainers getting ready, come to think of it, Calvin has never seen them fight to capture before, so maybe he'll sit this one to watch. "Here," Red said producing a ball. The ball was peculiar looking, it was almost entirely white on the bottom beside two red ridges that were on both side of the ball. On the top was black and white, with another red ridge on top. "It's a Timer ball," Red said urging to ball to Calvin. Calvin accepted to Timer ball, "Why," Calvin asked, "Why do you want me to do this." Red looked at Calvin then smiled, "Because, these are your pokemons, you should be the one to save them."

Chapter 16

The Ice golem finally regained its bearing and gave out a screech that sounded a lot like when you record your voice then play it faster. "Alakazam use Hypnosis," Crystal said. Alakazam's eyes glowed brilliant red, and the Regice slumped down. Skull-Mask produced a small brown and green ball, a Nest Ball. Calvin was confused with why a Nest Ball was going to be used. The Nest Ball only works well if they are used on pokemons weaker than the pokemon fighting it. Regice is an ancient pokemon, so it's probably a lot stronger than the Metagross. "Red," Skull-Mask said, "Let Prometheus fight." Red understood and told Prometheus to fight. Metagross tucked its leg under its body/head and glided back to a safer spot. Calvin was even more confused now. "Prometheus was recently caught, so it couldn't be stronger than Regice unless…" A thought occurred to Calvin, Kadabras and Alakazam can live up to hundreds of years, which probably explains why Crystal's Alakazam was able to decipher the code on the wall. "Prometheus is a lot older than he looks," Red said, "He's been in slumber for many years and has knowledge on almost all fields of fighting." Calvin looked at Prometheus, "If this is the case, how on Earth did Red catch him," he thought to himself.

Skull-Mask threw the Nest ball. When it made contact with the Sleeping pokemon, it glowed yellow and disappeared into the nest ball. The ball rolled back and forth for a little bit but exploded in grey smoke and the Regice appeared again. It regained consciousness and sat back up, "Alakazam use hypnosis again," Crystal said. This time Regice was ready for it and attacked Alakazam. It screeched furiously and released a wind of ice and snow. It froze Alakazam solid. "Damn," Red said, "Requiem, use hypnosis." Requiem appeared out of the shadow and put the pokemon back to sleep. Gold pulled out a Time ball and turned the little ridge on top that Calvin could only guess was a dial for time. Calvin did the same as he did and tuned the dial as well.

The Timer ball began to make ticking noises. Calvin could only assume that when the dial reaches a full revolution it's going to be its strongest. For the time being though, Calvin had to wait and watch as the others try fruitlessly to catch it with nest, ultras, greats, and just normal old pokeballs. At one point they came close to catching Regice with a pokeball, but on the final turn it broke free. Finally, after what felt like forever, Calvin heard a chime from Gold's pocket. The Timer Ball was ready. "Red get me a clear shot, I got a timer ball that's been cooking for a while," Gold said. Red nodded, "Requiem use hypnosis for the final time." The tired pokemon manage to use one final hypnosis before collapsing out of exhaustion. Calvin heard another chime, it was from his Timer Ball now. Red looked at Calvin. "Gold," Red called, "Let Calvin do it." Gold nodded and put the timer ball back. Gold looked at Calvin and gave him a smile, "Go on," Gold said, "Do it." Calvin nodded and threw the Timer Ball. When it made contact with Regice, it opened up and a small holographic clock formed in front of the pokeball and pulled Regice in. The Timer Ball turned, and turned, and turned, and every time it did, Calvin Heart slowed a little more, until on the final turn it stopped, "This is the moment of truth," Calvin thought to himself, "Please work." A small, hollow sound was produced from the Timer Ball. Calvin caught a Regice. "Wow," Gold said, "Congratulation, you caught your first legendary." Calvin walked up to the Timer Ball and picked it up. Inside was an ancient legendary pokemon that might solve their problem.

"Yes indeed, congratulation," Came a hollowed, sinister tone. In the doorway was a man in a mask. Red looked surprise but anger was soon to follow. It was the leader of the Defenders of Peace. "Unfortunately though, I'm going to have to apprehend that pokemon, see, it's my job," the leader said calmly. "Never," Gold said stepping in front of Calvin and pulling out a Pokeball, "If you want it you'll have to pry from our cold dead hands." The leader sighed, "Very well, if that's to be the case then that can be arranged," he said sadly, "Nidoking use Take Down." A large purple mass of spikes and horns ran out from behind the Leader and charged straight at Calvin and Gold. "Prometheus psychic," Red ordered. Prometheus used psychic, not on the Nidoking but on Calvin and Gold. He pulled them above the Charging Nidoking. Prometheus set Gold and Calvin next to Red. "Thanks," Gold said appreciatively. Red looked at the man and an overwhelming amount of hatred coursed through his body. He clenched his fist and pointed at the man, "You can't just leave us alone, can you," Red said bitterly. The masked man stared at him and then he laughed, "I'm afraid I can't, you must be Red then, well you are also on my agenda so how about this." The masked man snapped his finger and the Nidoking rammed right into Red knocking him a few yards back. The jagged horns on the Nidoking cut Red's arm badly. He got up and held his arm. Red began to get dizzy, "What is this," Red asked gasping for air, "Nidoking's poison should not be this effective." Red was right he got hit by a Nidoking's poison point before but never had it acted this badly, this fast. The masked man laughed, "Yeah, any normal Nidoking's poison doesn't act like this, but fortunately for me and unfortunately for you, this particular Nidoking was born with a stronger toxin than most.

Red's leg began to get really weak, his vision began to get dark and fuzzy, and his consciousness was fading. "Now then I got a new idea, you give me the Regice and I'll give you this," The masked man said sweetly holding up a small clear vial of a black ooze. "This is the only antidote for that poison, Pecha Berries won't work here," The masked man said happily, "Make up your mind quick, because judging by his condition now, there's a possibility that he's probably got about 5 minutes before he dies."

No one knew what to do, if they gave up the Regice they lose their only chance of getting those godforsaken gems off of Shade and Shredder, but if they don't then Red is going to die. "Pay me no heed," Red said, breathing heavily, "Requiem get them out of here." Requiem hesitated, "But Red, what about you." Red looked at Requiem, "Haven't we talked about this? If we ever get into this situation, the majority always matters, now do it." Requiem readied a teleport. "Now, now," the masked man began, "I certainly can't have that, Nidoking use poison sting." Red wasn't thinking at the moment. He saw Nidoking readying a poison sting at Calvin and he got up never minding the excruciating pain in his body. Red ran right at Calvin and rammed into him knocking him out of the way. He fell on the ground and coughed up blood. "Fine then, if you are so persistent to die then here, Nidoking use Body Slam," the masked man said impatiently. Nidoking ran and then jump, spreading his body into a flat position. Red looked up and saw the nidoking about to land on him. "Alakazam use psychic," a mysterious voice echoed throughout the cave. The nidoking got surrounded by a purple film and stopped midair. The Nidoking was thrown across cave like a ragdoll. "Venusaur, Frenzy Plant," The voice said again. It was a girl's voice, her tone was dark, cold, and calm. Root burst out of the ground, restraining the man and making him drop the vial which bounced harmlessly on the ground. In a moment, the masked man was completely restrained and couldn't move an inch with those roots holding him.

A hooded figure made its way out of darkness and picked up the vile. The figure looked at the masked man. "That's no way to treat my friend, I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you, Venusaur he's yours," the voice was a female, and her voice was sadistic and in every other way, terrifying, a Venusaur appeared behind her and roared triumphantly as he approached the masked man. She looked at the others, then at Red. She walked over to them when Blessed stepped in between the girl and the group, "Back off, lady," Blessed said defensively. The girl stopped and then removed her hood. A girl with vibrant green eyes, flowing, pale, brown hair, and pale skin. Red looked up and through the hazy image of his eyes he could the girl. "G-Green," Red asked, with a voice like sandpaper. The girl looked at Red and smiled mischievously, "You never could forget a face could you, Red." Calvin looked at the rest of the group, everyone was completely confused except for Gold he looked on to her with distrust. Green uncapped the antidote and drank it. Gold was about to object, but was stopped by the next action. Green leaned crouched by Red and pulled his face up to kiss him. Crystal looked away out of disgust. The black liquid began to stream down Red mouth. Green finished up and Red's breathing steadied as he nodded off to sleep.

"Okay, I know that you were just feeding him the antidote, but was that really necessary," Crystal asked aggressively. Green looked at her, "And what is it to you," Green asked, then her face contorted into a grin of sheer maliciousness, "Wait, don't tell me your Red's Girlfriend." Green began to laugh hysterically, Crystal blushed. "Don't think I'm laughing at you, Crystal," Green said calmly, "Red is a very good guy, you should be lucky that you got someone like him, but I must ask, why didn't you do anything? If Red is your boyfriend, wouldn't you go to the end of the earth to keep him safe?" Crystal was going to answer, but she couldn't answer, because truth be told she could've saved Red, but she didn't. If it weren't for Green, Red would've been dead for real this time. "No matter, you got Regice didn't you," Green said smirking at Calvin, "That was your mission am I right so we should be able to leave, here I'll transport you to your next destination, Alakazam, Pacifidlog please.

Chapter 17

They were in front of a Pokemon Center. To every other direction there was vast waters. They were on a large wooden platform afloat on water. Green draped Red over her shoulder and went inside, "Feel free to explore a little, I'm just going to check Red, here, in and then we can head off to the cave." "How does she know our objective," Calvin asked. "Red has friends with mysterious ways of knowing things," Gold said. It was especially hot today in Pacifidlog, and there wasn't much to do but explore and talk to the locales of the floating city. "Who is she," Calvin asked Gold as they were walking around the city, "Do you know who Green is?" Gold stopped and look over the sea, "I don't know much about Green," Gold said sadly, "But I do know that she's a champion of the Kanto Region." Calvin looked at Gold, "Red is, I thought." Gold just looked ahead as a gentle sea breeze brushed his hair, "He's the current champion, but he had two predecessors, Green was the first, Blue second, Red third. Afterwards they were known as the legendary colors, because of their strength and endurance," Gold said staring at the ocean, "They all got a title to, Red was known as the Incarnadine Warrior, Blue was known as the Cerulean King, and then Green was the Viridian Wanderer. Green got her name because after being beaten as champion she travelled to numerous regions and became champion in all the regions." Calvin looked ahead, if that's the case, then Green is probably stronger than every one of them. Green walked out with Red walking by her side, he was a little pale but he looked healthy at least.

"Okay, what's our plan," Calvin asked, anxious to finish this. "We're heading to the cave that in the rapids," Red said straightening out a new change of clothing. Shade noticed a glinting piece of metal around Red's neck. It was a necklace. The necklace found its way back down Red's shirt before Shade could make out the details. "Red doesn't seem to be the kind to wear jewelry," Shade thought to himself, "Must have some sort of meaning." "Okay so where is this cave in the rapids," Calvin asked. "She's referring to one on Route 141," Skull-Mask said. "Okay so are we surfing there," Calvin asked. "That would take too long to find a path, I suggest we fly," Gold said. "No, surfing is our only option, the cave is shrouded in a strange energy that stops all flying pokemons," Skull-Mask said sadly. "Okay then how are we going to find the right pass," Gold asked. "I know the pass I traveled there before," Red said. Everyone looked at Red, "You guys just need to follow me and I will get us across the rapids no problem," Red said confidently. "Okay then I'll meet you at the rapids," Green said and ran at the ocean throwing out a pokeball, "Go Mantyke!" And just like that she was off. "Okay we better head off as well, Skull-Mask you can Ride with me," Gold said. Skull-Mask walked with Gold. "Okay then Red and Calvin you can ride with me," Crystal said. Red and Calvin nodded and walked with Crystal. Kyogre was very fast at surfing and just like how it was on Ho-Oh there was little to no G-Force. Red was happy to finally be nearing a conclusion to this trek. "Hey Red," Shade asked, "What's that thing around your neck?" Red looked at him puzzled for a second but then he realized what he was talking about. "Oh this," Red said pulling out the necklace. The pendant was silver and sort of look like a skull, "It's called a Terran Symbol, it symbolizes intelligence, stability, and is a protection charm," Red said looking at the gleaming pendant, he smiled, "Guess it really hasn't been protecting me, huh?"

Shade was about to say, "Well maybe if you didn't go throwing yourself in front of death you might be more protected," but decided against it, he was, after all, doing it to protect them. "Does your family all have that symbol," Shade asked. "No we have different symbols, Skull-Mask has the Wheel of Taranis, Symbol of strength and courage, Gold has a Yin and Yang Tattoo that represents Harmony." "We're arriving guys," Crystal said. Sure enough, in front of a large expanse of water stood Skull-Mask and Gold on Suicune, who were standing on water like it was normal ground, and Green with her Mantyke. "What took you so long," Green asked, "We were waiting forever." "Five minutes is not forever," Red said standing on top of Kyogre. "It is for me," Green mumbled too herself. "Well, Red, lead the way," Gold said gesturing towards the rapids. Red recalled how he got there he was near the edge of the rapids. Red steered Kyogre to where he was before and went in. The others followed after him. If Red thought they were going fast before that was nothing compared to now. With the added motion of the rapids, Kyogre breathed by leaving the others in the dust. Red saw the rock formation which signaled the clearing. He steered Kyogre towards the clearing just barely making it. Gold didn't have any trouble at all, considering Suicune wasn't affected by the current because it was on top of water. Green wasn't as lucky. Green tried to steer but the rapids were to powerful and she was too far off the clearing. Green leaped off Mantyke and landed on one of the rocks bordering the clearing. She spun and returned Mantyke. "What took you so long," Red repeated jokingly, "It took you forever." "Shut up, Red, don't make me regret saving you back there," Green shot back.

"So this is the clearing," Gold asked, "I must say I was expecting it to be more…" Gold's words trailed off. "Eye-Catching," Skull-Mask offered. He was right the place was a small area and was completely inconspicuous of anything ancient. "Never judge a book by its cover," Red said, "Kyogre use Dive." Red, Calvin, Shade, Shredder, and Crystal, all vanished underneath the water. Gold shrugged, "Return Suicune, go Lugia," The Lugia appeared and caught Gold and Skull-Mask. "Meet you at the bottom," Gold said looking at Green and dived under. Red was already at the bottom of the large expansive chasm. Red trailed onward, Gold and Green followed. They kept underwater for a while until they came across a thick wall-like structure, Red swam passed the wall and turned so he was behind it. Behind the wall was blank besides a small, golden piece of writing. It was written in the same language which was on the wall in Regice cavern. Red pointed upward to signal that they could ascend. They all swam upward and found themselves within a cavern. Ancient pedestal that contained similar writing were scattered throughout the cave.

"So this is the cave," Shredder said looking around. Red jumped onto the ground and kept walking as if he was on a mission. "Feel free to look around," Red said, "Calvin I need you though, you own that pokemon so you are the one to give it commands." Calvin nodded and followed. He reached into his pocket and found the pokemon that will finally end this. They walked until they reached the end of the cave and found the monolith that had the painting. Calvin threw out Regice and in an instant the large ice golem appeared again. It didn't attack anyone this time. "Regice read the writing on the wall," Calvin commanded. "Prometheus, translate the language as it reads," Red commanded. Regice made high beeping noises, like a machine processing something.

Prometheus listened while Regice spoke. When Regice completed the story Prometheus spoke, "'There stands an ancient pokemon known as Arceus," Prometheus began, "Arceus is the pokemon known to have crafted the universe with his thousand hands. Arceus made a gem to control all the elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Grass, and Electric. Arceus then made pokemons of all diversity. No pokemon, besides those of the same species, looked the same, all had different attributes and characteristics. Afterwards, Arceus created a new style of fighting, in which pokemons would rely on their strength for unimaginable power, fighting. Then, Arceus offered an ability to allow others, who were otherwise weak in physical strength, to use their mind in battle, psychic. Finally, Arceus created four new gems. Gems that were to out match all others. The gem of Chaos, Harmony, Light, and Shadows." Prometheus paused and looked at Red. Red knew this face, it was the face of truth that doesn't want to be spoken for. Red sighed, "Proceed, Prometheus." Prometheus sighed, "It was the biggest mistake Arceus made. The gems beheld great powers, and would be devastating if it were to fall into the wrong hands, and just as Arceus foretold, a plot to take the gems and exploit them, unfolded. The scheme was led by an Alakazam by the name of Thalaist. Thalaist believed that if he could harness the energy of the gems he could become God and rule the Earth. Arceus was a kind god and didn't wish to harm his creations, so with his powers, he split the gems and scattered them across the world. After the gems had been scattered, they took on a mind of their own. Seeming how their power was so great, they were able to form themselves a consciousness, and began to grow their own life. Multiple times, these gems had been stumbled upon by pokemons and humans, and multiple time these same pokemons and humans would find themselves losing their body to the spirit of the gems." Calvin gasped, Shredder and Shade stood awestricken by the change in the story. Prometheus cleared his throat and continued, "Arceus realized his mistake but was unable to find his creations. The power of the gems have grown so strong that they grew the ability to kill off their own host and teleport to a new location. Arceus knew the only way to keep the other gems from getting the same fate as the other gems were to split his soul and make a legendary beast to guard the gems, and to ensure that if this pokemon were to stumble upon the gems and have the ability to destroy it, he halved his power into this pokemon. This beast is known as…"

"Mew," a man said from behind. Red turned around and found that multiple figures with masks were pointing guns at him and his friends. "Fancy meeting you guys here, your friends decided to take a nice nap," the leader said. Red looked over to the end of the cave, Skull-Mask, Gold, Crystal and Green were all asleep. They must've gotten too deep into the monolith to notice. The leader looked at him and something told Red he was smiling, "No matter, we got what we were here for, we got information and the pokemons that will be leading us to Mew." "What do you mean," Red asked. "Ah, the gems have the ability to sense when each other are around, since Mew is the guardian of the gems and have the same attribute as the gems the Grovyle and Mightyena can simply lead me there," the masked man said slyly. "Why you," Red began, but was silenced by the butt of a gun. Red lie on the ground dazed and tried look around, and saw Calvin speaking to the people then they ushered him off. Red tried to reach out to help but the leader saw him and walked over to him and crouched by him, "You know I'm disappointed in you, Red, I though you would be more of a challenge, but it would seem Thalaist is one step above you." Red's eyes widened. Behind the leader an Alakazam appeared he had on a red sash of some kind. In one of his hands he held the red gem, Red could only guess that was the gem of chaos, in the other hand was a blue gem matching the same shape as the other gems. Red could only guess that was Harmony.

Red grunted, "You already have two, why do you need Shredder and Shade," Red asked weakly. The man laughed coyly. "Because we wish to mix the gem and attain the title of God," Thalaist said smugly. Red knew that Thalaist was resuming his exploit millions of years ago, "How could he not be dead yet," Red asked himself, "It couldn't be that he was sleeping this entire time, and I doubt that he survived for so long." Red's mind was racing trying to think about Thalaist's survival, how to save Calvin, Shredder, Shade, and Prometheus, and the fact the Gold, Skull-Mask, Crystal, and Green were all sleeping soundly. His mind worked its way into a conniption that he barely even realized it when he got kicked in the face. "Poor Red, all alone just like how he started," Thalaist smiled coyly, "He didn't even have friends at the time, not even a dad, then to top it all off, his mother committed suicide. Red finally registered the pain, not only the pain from the kick, but from the pain that he had been trying so hard to escape from. The pain of being alone, scared, helpless, and unable to do anything. A faint voice could be heard from inside his head, "Okay let me take control." For the first time in a long time, Red was experiencing an emotion that he never liked experiencing, Anger. He was so tired of running away from his pains, running away from these people who claim to be doing this for "The good of the planet," But most of all he was tired of these people messing with him entirely. This wasn't about his family anymore, this was a personal issue, and he had a craving for blood. He got off the ground, no longer registering sadness, fear, pain, or guilt. The only thing that ran through Red's mind now is kill.

Chapter 18

The leader let him get up and gain his balance, "So you want to fight huh," he smiled, "Red is finally going to fight instead of run away." The others laughed. He walked over and punched Red in the nose. Red simply took the punch and laughed the most sadistic, maniacal, and, in short, terrifying laugh ever. The man struck again and Red grabbed his wrist mid-punch and spun him around. He forced him onto the ground so he was kneeling while he faced the group. Red put his feet on the leader's back and pushed while still holding on to the wrist. As he was pushing with his leg, he was pulling his wrist. The masked man's arm made a couple popping sounds and Red jerked the masked man's arm free from its socket. Red let go of the masked man and let him drop on the ground and scream. He then proceeded to kick savagely at the guys abdomen, one of the guys approached Red with a gun but Red was already prepared. He grabbed the gun and shot the guy in the head. He then shot as many people as he could while the magazine was full, smiling like a psychopath the entire time. He killed the people holding on to Calvin, Shade, Shredder, and Prometheus. He kept firing without hesitation. After he ran out of ammo he threw the gun at the last remaining guy knocking him unconscious. The Leader crawled away slowly reaching out for Thalaist to rescue him. Thalaist didn't, instead he teleported away. Red walked over to the leader grabbed him by his throat and slammed him against the wall. "So tell me what I should do first," Red said, though his voice was barely his own, it was dark, cold, and much deeper than before, "Should I continuously drown you, or maybe I should break all your bones, or maybe shoot you multiple time and then take that salt water there and put it on your wounds." The masked man was completely silent and spit blood that had formed from all the kicks to the abdomen. The blood splattered on Red's face, Red smiled wickedly, "Oh I see, you want me to kill you quickly, well I'm afraid I can't do that, because you see," Red's face contorted in anger, "That would be considered a blessing after I get through with you." "Red are you okay," Shade asked very concerned now, "This is very much unlike you." Red looked at Shade, for a moment Red's eyes were completely Green with red irises, but, It changed back before Shade could tell for sure, but nonetheless Shade knew that wasn't Red, his face was darker than usual, his eyes were glazed over and darker than the bright crimson they usually showed to be.

Red had turned into what Shredder and Calvin thought he was at the beginning, dangerous. Red then proceeded to squeeze on the masked man's neck until he began to choke. Red kept that way for 30 seconds and then let go, as the masked man began to breathe again. He then threw him on the floor and kicked him into the wall. "Come one, I thought you said I was weak, well if I'm so weak then prove my weakness, get up and fight me," Red said angrily. The masked man staggered upward. He punched with his good arm, but Red simply grabbed his fist and twisted it until a horrible snapping sound was heard. The masked man screamed and tumbled onto the floor. Calvin wanted to stop Red, but he was too far into his psychopathic rage that doing anything would only fuel his anger and hatred. Red was about to attack him when Prometheus grabbed his fist. Calvin, Shredder and Shade were horrified to think what was about to become of Prometheus. Red looked backwards and glared at Prometheus. "Enough, you've already done enough damage, anymore and he'll die," Prometheus said calmly. "That's a mercy compared to what he sent me through," Red said angrily. Prometheus was actually taken back by that, he was expecting Red to say something about his family, but for once Red showed signs that he cared about himself, "Ever since I found my mother dead, these guys have been making my life a living hell!" "You aren't proving yourself any better than they are when you do this," Prometheus yelled, "He has a life to! Didn't you say that everyone has a life, and that you won't condemn them because of their choices? This man was just following orders and was probably being manipulated!" Red eyes widened, whatever had taken control of him had vanished from his consciousness. He began to gain some realization of what he was doing. He looked down at the broken body of the masked figure, next he looked at the dead people scattered across the floor he then looked at his hands which were bloodied. He stared at them and gasped. He wasn't sure what happened he think maybe his rage had done this but he never thought that his rage would drive him to kill. He backed away from the body and got huddled up to the corner. He started to breathe heavily, he was scared of his own emotions now. "I-I do-don't reme-remember doing this," Red stammered still looking at the bodies scattered everywhere. Prometheus kneeled down in front of Red and put his hand on his shoulder. For the first time it was Prometheus turn to help Red, "Red take it easy, we know you weren't yourself, but you need to calm down." Red couldn't hear him, he was too deep into his panic attack, "I didn't know, I didn't know I could do this," Red said hysterically. "Red please calm down you are hyperventilating," Prometheus said louder, but fruitless. "How could I had done thi-" Prometheus had smacked Red to get his attention. Red stopped for a second and put his hand to his cheek which was now red. Red was taken off guard, it had been a while since he was attacked by his own pokemon. Everyone else seemed equally surprised. "Red, Calm down now," Prometheus said firmly, Red looked at Prometheus, "You can't afford to lose your head now, okay?" Red stared blankly. He then spoke quietly, "Yeah your right, I'm sorry you had to witness that," Red said calmly, "Thank you Prometheus for helping me."

Red and the others walked over to where the others were soundly sleeping. Red was impressed they were able to sleep through the gun fire, the screaming, and most of all Red's laughter. Red threw out Sparky. "Sparky, could you please," Red asked. Sparky understood and shocked them awake. They woke up with a start, Skull-Mask nearly impaled Gold with a knife while getting up. "What happened," Crystal asked groggily. "You got hypnotized by an alakazam," Red said blatantly. Crystal's eyes snapped wide open, Red's face was colored in blood along with his clothing and hands, "Red what happened to you?" Gold looked at Red and his expression match that of Crystal, "Oh my goodness, Red, are you okay?" Red was not actually sure he wanted to tell them what actually happened, he was worried that they would treat him differently. "I'll tell you guys later, right now we need to get out of here."

Red scooped up the crippled leader and they exited cave Gold, Crystal, Skull-Mask, and even Green were all equally surprised by the amount of carnage that had been caused while they slept. The Leader screamed, "Get away from me! Someone help me! Please, anyone but him!" "Requiem," Red said sharply. Requiem eyes glowed purple and the leader lulled to sleep. "Okay, Red what exactly happened while we were out, you don't expect me to believe that a friend helped you here," Crystal demanded stepping in front of him. Red bit his lip, he really didn't want to tell this one, of all the secrets he kept to himself, this, and this alone, was probably worse than all of them. "I… I killed them… all," Red said quietly. Gold eyes widened, Skull-Mask was taken back and Crystal was completely dumbstrucked. Red was always the character to give mercy, the one who always shoots for the legs and not the head. "Red… what… how did…" Gold stammered looking around. "I lost my temper, and I had a lot of negative feelings that were being bottled up. When I finally let loose I lost my sanity as well," Red said guiltily. "This is no place to be talking about this, let's talk about this when we are out of here," Prometheus said eager to change the subject, he knew that Red's own emotions were only being balanced by a string at this point, he didn't want to test that string either. Crystal must've knew what Prometheus was doing because she agreed, something that she rarely does. Once they finally got out of the cave and out from under the water, they started flying to Pallet Town, Red needed to grab something. For everyone's sake, they needed to rest, and Red had a feeling that the Defenders of Peace, or well, what's left of them anyways, wouldn't be following them for a while. They were most likely heading for Mew, and they would be expecting Red and his friends there as well. Red gulped, never had he felt such fear, such terror, and such trauma than back there. He closed his eyes, but he wished he didn't.

Chapter 19

Red found himself reliving his massacre, as if he were there right now doing it. It felt so real that he could smell the gun smoke, hear the screaming, and feel the clenching in his gut. It was all so vivid, yet so alien to him. Right when he thought he was going to retch at the scene, it shifted. He was now on a ship, it was day time and he was travelling on some sort of ferry. Yet another cloaked figure was standing at the head of the ship watching the passing sea. A shine of brilliant light formed behind the figure and Thalaist appeared, his face was surprisingly nervous, "Master," Thalaist said anxiously, "We failed to capture the Grovyle, and the Mightyena. The figure remained in his stance as his cloak flapped in the wind. He sighed, "I thought you said that I could count on you." His voice was mellow, but deep and sinister. Thalaist shifted his feet, "I thought that I could count on myself to, but alas, the trainer known as Red had some tricks up his sleeves," Thalaist said resentfully. "Oh? And what kind of trick would that be? What kind of trick could have fooled an almost all knowing being such as yourself," The figure asked, frustrated. "He was never like this. This was nothing compared to the original behavior of him. I've been studying him for a while, and never had he acted like this," Thalaist said panicky, "He simply killed all my men in cold blood like he wasn't even himself." The figure flinched, "He killed? You're telling me that Red actually killed all your men and you didn't do anything, you're a god damn Alakazam why didn't you use psychic or something?" Thalaist was about to speak, but didn't. The figure sighed and calmed himself down. "I'll go looking for them," Thalaist said. "No," the figure said, they will be heading for mew as well, we'll wait." "Understood," Thalaist said and teleported away.

Red's dream began to swirl around like a vortex, the dream was beginning to distort. "What the hell," Red said to himself, "This never happened before." At his feet everything was being sucked into nothing. A large hand extended from the pit of nothing and grabbed ahold of Red, pulling him downward, he blacked out. When Red awoke, he was in a room of total darkness besides him, which seem to radiate light, his shadow was white as well. He looked around, there was nothing in every direction, just darkness, it was the same place that he was brought after every dream he had for the last few month. He walked around blindly for a full five minutes, before he heard faint whispering. He turned and found two balls of light floating alongside. He walked towards the light and found Shredder and Shade within it. They appeared to be sleeping. A large twine of golden rope was in between them, their bond. Red didn't know what to think about this place. Red looked around a little bit more and found a darker orb. He walked towards it and found himself. There was no bond to this one, or otherwise if there was, it was too dark to see. The other Red was sleeping soundly in his bubble. Red reached out, but as soon as he made contact with the other Red's bubble, his eyes popped open. "Oh hello Red," the other Red said coyly. His eyes were dark and glazed over and sinister. A smile crept across his face, "Good to see you again." Red was confused, "Who are you." The Other Red laughed, "I'm you silly, or better yet I'm the insane part that lives in you." Red gasped, "You…" "Yes I was the one who shot all those men, I was the one who crippled that guy," The other laughed hysterically. "But I'm not here for that right now, follow me," the other said, his face shifted almost instantly to seriousness.

Red followed… Red (I'm going to call him Jason just to stop any confusion) Red followed Jason throughout the abyss until they came across the two gems that were embedded in Shade and Shredder. "They appear to be sleeping," Red observed. Jason nodded, "They are, but nonetheless they're still doing harm to Shade and Shredder. Red looked at Jason, "What kind of harm?" Jason winced, "These gems are slowly killing off their host. They know that you guys know the truth." Red suddenly got light headed, "How long do we have?" Jason shrugged, "Not even I can say, but they feed off of negative energy, and the scare that you gave both of them didn't help." Red frowned, "You mean you did, I would've never had done that." Jason smirked, "Oh contraire, you did do that, didn't you wish you could do something?" Red was going to say something but stopped himself, it was true after all. He DID want to help, and he DID get what he wanted, he should've been careful what he wished for, but then again, that was more luck than a wish. "What kind of harm are they doing to Shredder and Shade," Red asked changing the subject. "Internal harm these gems continuously try and possess the host, if they fail, they do damage to the host instead to weaken it, just like capturing a pokemon, if it fails once, you would weaken the pokemon to make it easier, correct?" Red was still confused, "Wait but how do you know this, if you are part of my mind, then how could you have known what I didn't?" Jason stopped, he sort of froze in place. Than a smile crept across his face, it wasn't sinister, psychopathic, and not even dangerous. Instead, his smile was a smile of being impressed and friendly. "I must say, you're sharper than you look," Jason said, his voice was softer.

Jason's body began to change form. A large ring formed around his stomach. The ring parted behind him and in front of him while bars jutted out from his ribs connecting to the ring, large emeralds popped out at the spot where the ring and bars intersected. Jason's eyes turned pitch Green with red irises. His hands and feet turned into a boot-like shape. His neck elongated, and his nose disappeared along with his mouth, his hair turned white and gray and stretched behind him. His ears pointed and stretched to go above his hair. The skin on his back turned white, while his stomach turned gray. Red was not horrified by the monster now in front of him, he was more terrified by the process in which Jason transformed. "What are you," Red asked, snapping out of the shock. "My name is Arceus," The large beast bellowed. Red's eyes widened, "You were the pokemon who created the universe." Arceus shrunk so he was Red's height, "Yes that I am, Red I've been hiding within your body in hope that I could find the gems and end that of which I have started." Red blinked, "Wait if you created the universe, wouldn't that mean you could just summon them to you, or use like an all-seeing eye to look for them," Red asked skeptical. Arceus melted back into the form of Red, "I could see them, but teleporting to them will make them disappear, and summoning them to me is too difficult." Red blinked, "Too difficult? I would think that creating the Universe is much more difficult than that." Arceus nodded, "It is, but unfortunately it takes a long time to restore the energy to create the Universe and life." Red could see how that's reasonable, "Okay next question, why did you choose my body?" Arceus smiled, "I chose you because we both have a common goal, the rest follow you and you alone, I needed a sturdy leader, and you seemed to follow that pretty well." Red didn't know whether to be angry that he is using his body as refugee, or blessed that he got a god on his side. "Okay, final question, why did you take my body in that cave," Red asked. Arceus looked guilty, "You're right, I should've probably asked before taking over your body, but you were panicking and our chance of getting those gems off of Shade and Shredder were slipping so I kind of acted off of instincts." Red could understand where he was coming from, in any situation like that, if he had the power, he was going to do the same thing, "But was killing really necessary?" Arceus frowned, "You're right I should've been more courteous, but humans have very little limitations, and a god could only do so much in a human body."

Red was now completely straightened out with Arceus, "Okay, then what do you want me to do?" Arceus smiled, "Oh it's really simple for humans, all I need is for you to get close to the gem of Harmony and Chaos. They seem to not know my presence when hidden in a human so you should be able to get close enough. When the time comes, I will leave your body, and destroy the gems." Red weighed the thought of running through battle looking for the gem, "And should I know anything else before this, like side effects of withdrawal of the gems," Red asked skeptically, this seemed way too simple to be true, he knew that Arceus was hiding something. Arceus's happiness dissipated, "Well," Arceus hesitated, "Shredder and Shade might not live through the extraction." Red stopped, he simply looked at his doppelganger, "They… won't survive…" Red could feel his Heart hurting, "This is not going to bode well with Calvin." Arceus frowned, "Ah yes, Calvin. I've been meaning to ask you, why do you still help that kid? He treats you with no respect at all." Red looked at Arceus, "Why do I still help him?" Arceus nodded, "Ever since he met you, he treated you horribly, and even had the guts to talk about your mother. If you ask me he doesn't deserve your protection or respect. Plus, you know nothing about him so why even bother?"

Red smiled, "You're right, I don't know anything about him, and I don't care for his attitude either, and sure he can be a little difficult to get along with," Red paused, "But he's a pokemon trainer too, and a damn good one, and it hurts me to see any pokemon trainer have to see their pokemon die." Arceus looked at him, then he smiled, "You are your parent's son aren't you, determined to help someone, even when that person hated them." Red blinked, "Wait you know my parents?" "I know all of my creations, Red," Arceus said, "I've tried looking for an alternative solution for the gems, but that is the only way to get rid of them, I can't move them on to a new body." Red looked at Arceus, "But how am I going to break this to Calvin and Shredder and Shade?" Arceus frowned as if the idea only just hit him, "Hmm, I guess you could either A.) Not tell them and lead them there ignorant, or B.) You could allow me to take over and tell them, trust me, they'll know it's me." Red pondered the thought, if he went with his first choice, he could get them there easier, but it would be deceptive and kind of despicable, or he could go with the second choice and Calvin might not do it at all. "I choose B," Red said sternly. Arceus nodded, "Thought you would, okay get Calvin, Shredder, and Shade and we'll talk. Red sighed, "Then it would seem that this our only way, Arceus, I will allow you to tag along, but I ask one favor." Arceus smiled, "Name it." Red asked Arceus the favor, Arceus smiled, "I think that will be sufficient" "Thank you," Red said. Arceus and the gem disappeared, and Red felt like he was falling. He was waking up, "Well, I guess this is where it all ends," Red said, then he woke up.

Chapter 20

It was already late morning when he woke up, "Damn, how long did that dream last," Red said scratching his head, as he sat up. Sparky was laying on his lap and the rest of the pokemons were sleeping together. They were still in the air. Red got up and looked around, Gold's Ho-oh and Lugia were flying next to each other so their wings barely touched each other, but just enough to safely travel across. Gold and the others were on Lugia, talking. Red crossed over from Ho-oh to Lugia. Red found it exceptionally difficult to meet Calvin's eyes. "Don't worry simply tell them what's going on and I'll tell them the rest," Arceus's voice echoed in Red's head. "Good morning, sleepy head," Gold said. Red was actually surprised, he was sure that his episode would have gotten to them all. He looked around and found another guys sitting on the bird, the leader without his mask. He was an older gentlemen probably in his 50s he had brown hair with streaks of white, and hard gray eyes. When he saw Red he flinched. "Don't worry I wasn't myself back there," Red said honestly. The man relaxed but only a little bit. "Calvin," Red said resuming to the group, "I need to talk to you, Shredder, and Shade alone." Calvin was a little bit confused, and a bit nervous. They walked over to Lugia's tail where they wouldn't be heard. "What is this about," Calvin asked. "I'm not quite sure how to put this," Red said looking away, "Arceus had entered my dream to convey a message." Calvin's eyes widen, "The pokemon from the monolith?" Red nodded, "He was the one who killed all of them not me, but I'm afraid that's not the reason he was in my dream," Red sighed, "your pokemons are dying." Calvin was completely stunned by this news and so were Shredder and Shade.

"Arceus said that gem feed off of negative energy, and slowly kill the host in hope of possessing it, and the only way to get rid of them is Arceus extracting it himself," Red said. Calvin sighed, "Well good you said that Arceus was with you right? Maybe you can contact him." Red looked away again, "Arceus is with me right now, but extracting the gem will ultimately kill the host as well. You see, once the gem attaches to a host, it then combines with its soul, destroying the gem will also destroy the soul in which it is attached to." Calvin stopped smiling, he turned pale and looked at his pokemon. Shredder and Shade both looked at each other and then at Calvin. "The choice is up to you, do you want to spend more time with your pokemon, or do you want to just get this over with and stop any more people from suffering, I'll understand if you choose the first one," Red said. Then a presence of immeasurable power worked its way under Red's skin, "Well I don't," Arceus said forcing his way into Red's physical form. Red stumbled and shivered. His eyes began to change Green and red. Red's consciousness disappeared. "Red, are you alright," Calvin asked. "You are no longer speaking to Red," Red said standing up, though his voice was barely his own, it was hollow and deep. The air suddenly got colder, Red's normally kind presence was completely gone from the atmosphere, and replaced with a largely more powerful presence. "I am Arceus," Red's body said. Calvin stepped back, he saw Red's eyes and they were the same as the ones he saw in the cave. "You're… Arceus," Calvin repeated. Arceus nodded.

Shredder and Shade both looked at Red's body now embodying Arceus, their creator. They weren't sure if they wanted bow to their creator, or attack him for making these gems and causing such distress to the world. Calvin already made up his mind, he walked right up to Arceus's embodiment, and punched him right in the nose. Arceus simply stood there and took it, "I probably deserved that." Calvin huffed angrily, "Why did you create those gems dammit, do you have any idea what kind of distressed that caused us?" Arceus nodded, "I realize that I should have known what was going to happen, but I didn't see that coming." Calvin was taken back by that, "What do you mean you didn't know, aren't you God?" Arceus nodded, "Just because I'm God doesn't mean I'm all-powerful and all-knowing, I simply created this Universe, which gives me the right to call myself God of it, to prove that no matter how many different leaders try and take over this world, I will always be lord sovereign." Calvin stepped off, "So you're not all-powerful? Then how did you create those gems? If you aren't all powerful you wouldn't have been able to create those gems." Arceus looked away, "If your read the monolith better, I only created fire, water, earth, grass and electric. Psychic was out of my domain at the time. And when I had created that I didn't even bother using it, instead I passed it off to the rest of the pokemons, honestly if you thought that I was all-knowing, why on Earth would I create humans. They're deceitful, barbaric, cruel, greedy, and dangerous to my children." Calvin pondered the thought, "Not all are like that." Arceus nodded, "That's true, there are many who are kind, gentle, humble, truthful, giving, and caring, but a majority are dangerous."

Calvin stepped off, "But why didn't you destroy them when Thalaist came for you?" Arceus shook his head, "No even I know why, I guess I saw potential in these gems to keep balance, I shot blindly, and now I need to end my mistake." Calvin simply stood there looking at his pokemon, "And now you're going to kill my pokemon? I refused to take part in helping you try and right your failure as a creator." Arceus glared and seized Calvin by the neck, "If I had failed as a creator, then you would've been dead, you should watch what you say in the face of your creator." Arceus let Calvin go, allowing him to fall. "And right now you're being really selfish, trading the destruction of the world for your pokemon? That's three compared to billions on this planet." "I know…" Calvin said as he got up, "But they have built bond with me that's more charitable than anyone on this planet." Arceus looked onto Calvin with amusement, then onto his pokemon.

Arceus walked up to Calvin and put his hand on Calvin's shoulder, "I realize that my mistake has brought death and destruction to yours and many other lives, and it is wrong of me to ask you and your pokemons, the ones that have faltered because of my mistake, to help me…" Arceus clenched onto Calvin's shoulder, "But this is my final chance to redeem myself to my creations. For the sake of your world and the future, please help me." Calvin could sense genuine sadness and guilt behind Arceus's word. Shredder smiled, "As much as I hate you for making these things in the first place, it can't be helped we'll help in anyway as possible." Shade agreed. Calvin looked at them, and sighed. As much as he hated to admit it, the world was much more important than Shredder and Shade, I mean after all they are going to die anyways, why not make their death the most momentous and climactic death ever. Calvin had to slap himself mentally, what is he thinking? Going through with this, these are his pokemons. "Calvin, I know it's going to be hard to let us go, but you need to understand that the future is resting on our shoulder. If this is the burden of these gems, I want them out now," Shredder said. Calvin began to tear up, "But I don't want to lose you guys." "Calvin, if what Red and Arceus said is true, then we are dying, we at least want our death to be painless and quick, and we don't want these gems to harm anymore souls," Shade said. Calvin couldn't bear the idea of Shade and Shredder attacking him or worse each other. "Okay," Calvin said, already regretting his word. Arceus smiled, but for a second Calvin saw Red's eyes, they were kind and soft, but they looked exhausted and in short, like they were dying. Arceus began to pull away. He collapsed onto Lugia and began to shiver uncontrollably, Red was taking back control of his body. Red began to shiver violently, "Red are you okay," Calvin asked genuinely concerned. "I'm fine," Red said though he definitely didn't sound fine. Red then began to cough violently spitting out a lot of blood. "Oh my God! Red," Shade exclaimed running towards him. "Stay where you are," Red yelled sharply. Shade stopped instantly, Red didn't want them to know about the disease. He tried to push himself up, but the possession had taken all of his energy, that he didn't even have enough energy to keep himself warm. He cursed loudly, drawing the attention of the rest of the group towards him.

"Red, are you alright," Skull-Mask said rushing over, "What happened?" "I don't know, Red got possessed, by Arceus, but when Arceus left, he ended up like this," Calvin said panicky. "Gold how's he doing," Skull-Mask asked. "He's coughing up blood, unable to move, and cold as ice, my best guest, whatever happened afterwards must have done a number on his body," Gold said as he felt Red's forehead. "Is he dying," Skull-Mask asked genuinely concerned. Gold looked at Skull-Mask without answering but his eyes said everything. Before, everyone broke into hysteria, Red finally flinched, "I'm… fine," Red said getting up finally. "Red how are you…" Gold tried to ask, "You were spitting up blood, cold as ice, and couldn't move, we thought you were dying." Red gained his balance, and rubbed the blood from his mouth, "I said I'm fine, my body just wasn't used to being possessed for that long, by that powerful of a being." Red walked away without another word leaving them in the dark.

Red has definitely had better days, he was cold and couldn't heat up, his head felt like it was splitting open, he constantly had violent coughing like something wanted to come out but wouldn't. The rest left him alone for a while. Red simply slept the rest of the way to Pallet town, which took a long time. At night, when everyone fell asleep, Red woke up and watched the Waning Crescent moon. He was still cold, but the blanket in his back pack, help a little bit. "Hey," Requiem said standing behind Red. "Hey," Red said awkwardly. "Mind if I sit," Requiem asked. "Go ahead," Red said scooting over. Requiem sat down and for the moment they just sat there and watched the moon passed by. "What happened back there Red," Requiem said staring at Red with his one large eye. Red sighed, "Arceus possessed me, and upon leaving, my body sustained damage." "Bullshit," Requiem said sharply, "You know as well as I do that Possession doesn't do that much harm to you if the Possessor willingly leaves or is forced out by the host, now what actually happened." Red sighed, he forgot that Requiem knows all about possession. "Fine, I have an incurable disease that ties directly into my family, which is slowly killing off my blood cells faster and faster. As the disease progresses my organs begin to sustain damage, and now I have less than 6 month until I die," Red said blatantly. Requiem just silently looked at Red. "Why didn't you tell us before, we could've gotten you treatment," Requiem finally said, his voice more hollow than usual. "Because, I needed to stay strong for you guys, I needed to concentrate on my goal which was getting those gems off of Shredder and Shade, but most of all, I was afraid of being alone, I was afraid of being helpless, and I didn't want to slow you guys down."

Requiem stared at Red, then he sighed, "Well, now we're more worried than ever, and we're afraid for you, why can't you for once just do something to save yourself, we don't want you to die Red," Red looked away and focused on the moon, "Because," Red said, "I'm not the kind to stay in one place, look at me Requiem, I'm the kind to continuously move, and to never look back, you, and the rest of my family are the only thing keeping me going, and looking back on my past, focusing on my disease, thinking about all the death that I have witnessed, will only slow me down. I can't afford that, I must keep moving, keep going on with my life, because…" Red paused and looked back at Requiem, "I want to die knowing that my family will be happy even when I die, and I want to bear witness to that point in my life as my parting gift, and I refuse death's kind offer until then."

Chapter 21

Red dreamt that he was back in the abyss, Arceus was waiting, "I heard what you said," Arceus said as Red appeared back in the abyss. "I must say, I think that's the first time I ever wept a tear of joy." Red simply looked onto him, "Don't forget your promise." Arceus put his finger to his heart and made an X. That X glowed brilliantly, "A god is always true to his word." Red began to cough up blood. Arceus put his hand on Red's head, and Red stopped almost instantly, "You aren't destined to die yet," Arceus said and disappeared. Red saw a brilliant light forming at the end of the abyss. He walked to the light and found a premonition. Anxious for what the future held for him, he stepped through it. He saw the entire world lying in waste. Red looked at the world in pure horror. "Tragic isn't it," Red spun around to see Thalaist. "Hello Red," Thalaist said resentfully. "What are you doing in my dream," Red said furiously. "I'm here delivering this premonition to show you that you overreach yourself." Red smirked, "Well if this is the future, then I guess I much change it." Thalaist scoffed, "I don't believe that you have the power to do that."

"You don't believe in anything, do you," Red asked, "All you care about is becoming God and refuse anything that stands in your way, thinking that lowering our hope will help you to your goal, I don't think like that, when I see no hope, I keep fighting until I find some," Red floated over to Thalaist and hugged him, "So try all you want, to lower my morale, you can bite, stab, slash, and throw, and ruin my life," Red then produced a knife from his dream, "But the more you attack me, or my family, the more of a reason for me to live." Red brought down the knife stabbing Thalaist making his ethereal form dissipate. Red looked upon the world once more and saw that the world went back to the way it looked, green and beautiful. "Alright, I'm fighting destiny and I'm making my own path."

Chapter 22

Red was shaken by Gold, "Hey Red we're in Kanto, if you got people to say goodbye too now's the time." Red got up and looked around, the sleepy town of Pallet rest beneath them. He got off of Ho-Oh and stopped by Blue and Daisy's house first. Blue was eating breakfast, "Red! What are you doing here?" "I didn't get to say thanks to you back at the ship so thank you," Red said. Blue smirked, "You can thank me when you get home alive." Red smiled and promised, another empty promise that he would never be able to keep. Red walked past the lab and towards the grave behind the lab _"Here lies Prof. Oak, A friend to pokemon and humans alike." _Red smiled and picked some flowers and put them on the grave. "I'll see you soon enough old man," Red said and walked over to his house. He walked inside, the house was abandoned just as it was left. Red walked upstairs and found his childhood room. Red smiled and grabbed a pokemon plush doll. Red sighed, oh the memories brought back by this. Crystal walked in and found Red hugging his doll, "Red?" Red looked up at Crystal, Crystal could see that Red had tears, "Red are you crying?" Red nodded, "Yeah but it's just from nostalgia." "Okay, well we're taking off so finish up in here, we'll be waiting," Crystal said and shut the door. Red looked at the door and then back at the doll and then found a peculiar note sticking outside of the dolls seams. He plucked the note and opened it.

"_Dear Red,_

_I knew that you would find the note here, you always did hug this thing when you were upset, I wanted to tell you not to worry about me, I was already in pain when I died. Don't worry about me Red I'm in a better place, no longer in pain, and no longer suffering, continue that adventure of yours. Show your father how much you've grown, and let your fame spread throughout the world._

_ Love mom_

Red stared at the note in disbelief, this note was the final bit of memory Red will ever share of his mother. He smiled at the note and put it in his pocket. Skull-Mask walked in and looked around, "So this is where it all began, huh?" Red smiled, "Yup, do you need something," Red asked. Skull-Mask shook his head, "I wanted to say my final goodbyes, since we won't have that time on the battlefield. Red nodded. Skull-Mask reached behind his head and untied his mask, and removed it. Standing in front of Red was a man with jet black hair and emerald green eyes, "I, Emerald, wish you farewell." Red looked upon the originally masked man, "So this is the man who made all my dreams come true," Red asked. Emerald smiled, something Red definitely didn't see much. "I'm glad I was able to serve by your side, Red," Emerald said no longer with a metallic tone, his voice was clearer and sharper. Red and Emerald walked outside of the house and looked back upon one more time, taking a mental snapshot of it. Everyone stumbled backwards when they saw Emerald's face. "Skull-Mask! Is that you," Gold said surprised. Emerald smiled, "I'm no longer Skull-Mask, I'm Emerald." Everyone kind of looked upon Emerald with great curiosity. "You ready to go," Gold asked recovering from the shock. Red smiled, "Yeah." They all got on and headed off to finally finish this journey.

Red had been acting the most sociable since… ever. Red has never been so happy, talkative, and funny than right now. Everyone enjoyed his presence for once, Red had no secrets to keep, and he was now free from all anger. Though his disease was still causing him problems, he kept his chin held high and didn't let it bother him in the slightest. Even Shade, Shredder, and Calvin seem to be improving on their mood. They all knew about what was going on, but they tried to keep their morality up. "Though this is a sad time for me and it might be my last, I'll fight to the very end, because in the end there's nothing I can do, except fight. That's what I plan on doing to," Red had said, "I'm going to live my life like I never had." The fly to Mew's island wasn't that long, and for once the trip was happy, there was no anger, sadness, or angst. Everyone decided that since this was going to be their final battle they might as well enjoy what they got, they had nothing to lose, they either lost and died, or won and saved the world so why not fight to win. They finally were approaching the island and unsurprisingly the ships were already there. "You guys ready," Red asked. Everyone looked at each other and replied on cue, "Ready." Red nodded and jumped off the Ho-oh into the lush jungle. "Wahoo," Red yelled as he fell. Everyone jumped after him. Red threw out Prometheus, "Prometheus would you please?" Prometheus nodded and slowed their rate of decent so when they hit the ground it was like falling on a mattress. "Good job Prometheus," Red said standing up. Red looked around and found a trail. The rest were caught by Prometheus and followed Red. They came across a large clearing where they could hear voices. Red whispered to Blessed, "Use Hyper Beam." Blessed smiled and flew up in to air, and shot down a beam of pure energy destroying the clearing. Red walked outside where, Blessed landed, "Good job Blessed." They all kept running the path until they came across stairs. They climbed the stairs without hesitation and found themselves on the highest part of the island. The Masked leader, from Red's dream was waiting with Thalaist, and Mew trapped in a cage that absorbed all his powers. "Ah, so you guys made it, good I can kill you all right here," the masked man said putting Mew down. Red saw the two gems were inserted in two slots on some big monolith. "So you must be the leader," Red said. The leader cackled, "Yes, and you must be Red, I must say, I am impressed that you were able to conquer my men." "Oh that reminds me, you should think about hiring professionals instead of those lame people, they didn't even put up a fight," Red said calmly.

"Duly noted," The leader said. "So do you have a name," Red asked. The leader stared at him utterly confused, "Are you trying to befriend me or something?" Red laughed, "No, just wondering if I can call you something so I'm not bothering myself with calling you "The Masked man." "I think you can call me God soon enough," The masked man said coyly. "You know I think I'll just call you Jim, does Jim sound good to you," Red asked. "What? N-" "Jim it is," Red interrupted. Jim sighed, "It isn't going to matter you're all going to do die, once I get those jewel, so just try to stop me." Emerald stepped up first. "I guess I'll go first," Emerald said getting in a battle stance. Jim pulled out a katana and lunged. Emerald sidestepped, and countered. Emerald jabbed Jim in the arm. Jim got up but the arm where Emerald had jabbed just flopped by Jim's side, "C'mon are you even trying," Emerald said tauntingly. Jim lunged again, Emerald sidestepped again and jabbed Jim's other arm. Jim's other arm flopped down dropping the sword, "I thought someone so set out on becoming God would be more difficult," Emerald said preparing to strike, "My turn." Emerald ran at Jim. Emerald jabbed Jim in the leg then punched Jim in the face. Jim fell on the ground and couldn't get up, "What is this, why can't I move," Jim said straining to get up. "Humans have pressure points in their body, which are really just bunches of nerves that have clumped together in particular areas, jabbing these nerves can stop the nerves from sending signals, leaving you temporarily paralyzed," Emerald said, "Now there is one vital pressure point, hitting this will completely paralyze you." Emerald walked around Jim and prepared a final jab. He shot his hand at Jim's neck. Jim collapsed onto the ground, unable to move. Emerald turned to Thalaist and put his hand out, "Now then do you want me to do that to you? I didn't think so now hand over the gems please." Thalaist fearfully gave the gems too Emerald. Emerald stepped over Jim and headed to the group, "I was expecting that to be more of a challenge," Emerald said disappointedly. Suddenly, Jim begun to stand up, "Uuuh, Emerald? I think you just got what you wished for," Gold said pointing behind Emerald. Jim pulled up his katana and brought it down on Emerald. Emerald turned around just in time to put his hand in front of the sharp blade. Emerald grunted as blood began to drip down Emerald's hand. Emerald pushed the katana off and jabbed Jim in the stomach. Jim simply stared at Emerald amused. "What how is he-" Emerald tried to ask but got kneed in the stomach and kicked across the terrace. "Emerald," Red shouted. Jim laughed, "As impressive as your skills are, I don't have pressure points like normal humans, I was simply waiting for you to drop your guards." Jim walked over to Emerald, "Now to finish you." Jim brought up the katana and brought it down. Before, he could kill Emerald though, Gold shot the katana out of Jim's hand. Jim glared at him. Gold smiled, "Now then let's see who can strike first, the guy with two guns, or the guy without a sword." Jim sighed and pulled out a small orb. He threw the orb at Gold, as soon as the orb got near Gold it blew up shooting smoke everywhere. Gold began to cough uncontrollably as the smoke got in his lungs. He would've been able to recover had Jim had not kicked him in the face. Crystal threw daggers at Jim's chest, but they bounced harmlessly off of him. The daggers tore off pieces of fabric revealing a piece of sheet metal on his chest. Crystal then tried to punch Jim but Jim simply grabbed her arm and tossed her aside. Now it was just Red, Shredder, Shade and Calvin. Calvin tried to kick Jim but Jim simply grabbed Calvin's leg and flipped him. "Calvin," Shredder yelled. "Now then surrender quietly, and I'll make the extraction quick and easy," Jim said towering over Red.

Red's confidence was completely shot now. He stepped in front of Shredder and Shade as a final attempt to keep Shredder and Shade safe, "Are you ready yet," Arceus said in Red's mind, "Not yet," Red thought to himself. Jim laughed coyly and prepared a punch. Red prepared to block. Jim brought down the fist and Red blocked. The sheer force of the punched forced Red backwards. He pushed Jim's fist away and tried to punch him in the stomach since Emerald didn't find any armor there. Jim blocked Red's fist and kneed him in the gut. Red got wind knocked out of him and he fell onto the ground gasping. He saw Shredder and Shade fight fruitlessly as Jim simply grabbed them by their head and pulled them over. He spread his arms and chanted something in a weird language. Shredder and Shade began to scream as the gems separated themselves from their chest. The gem of Chaos and Harmony floated away. The four gems began to cycle in the air. Finally, Mew floated upward and stopped in the center of the circle. A large amount of energy began to emit from the gems, "Only a few more minutes and I will finally be God," Jim said happily. Red began to laugh. Jim turned around to find Red getting up. "Have you finally went completely insane with fear," Jim said amused. "No, actually I wanted to thank you," Red said coyly, "You answered a question that's been weighing on my mind for that last few days." Jim laughed, "And what would that be?" Red smiled slyly, "You see I was wondering if we were to remove the gem, would it kill the host, and seeming how Shredder and Shade are still alive, I say that's not true." "What are you getting at," Jim said confused. Red smiled and said, "I'll let you see for yourself, Arceus are you ready?" Jim stepped back, "Arceus?" Red put his hand up, "Arceus, Creator of the Universe, I call upon your power, destroy the mistake that you had made and restored the world back to the paradise in which you promised!" The ground began to shake as Arceus moved out of Red's body and gained a physical body. "You see, Arceus had brought to my attention that destroying the gems would destroy the host as well, but since the gems were no longer attached to a host, I will cause no damage, Arceus now," Red said. Arceus roared triumphantly and the sheer force of his roar sent a shockwave that destroyed the gem. "NO," Jim cried as his hope to become god shattered before his eyes. "Arceus, come day of wrath, strike divine judgment upon these heathens. Arceus roared again as Thalaist and Jim started to levitate. "Your crime against your creator has deemed you incapable of redemption," Arceus said deeply, "Thou shalt perish by God's hand." Thalaist and Jim disappeared. Red sighed, finally it was over.

Red realized Shade and Shredder were both lying unconscious, he ran to them. Red checked their pulse, slow but normal. The skin temperature was a little cold but he felt they would make. He then looked at the gem-shaped hole in their chest. No bleeding, or apparent damage to internal organs. Red sighed. Arceus shaped back into the form of Red. "I'm impressed with your ability to think outside of the box, Red," Arceus said looking down at Shredder and Shade, "But you do realize that I won't be able to help you, right?" Red nodded sadly, "I know that my I won't be so lucky, but I think that I'll be able to die satisfied." Arceus smiled, "Well, your time is almost up, do you want to say your final goodbye?" Red nodded, Arceus put his hand up and all of Red's friend began to get up. They looked around and saw Red and his doppelganger standing together. Gold was completely confused, "Um, what just happened? Did Red just clone himself?" Red smiled, "I wish to say my final good bye to you all." They all stopped, "Wait your leaving us," Crystal asked. Red nodded, "And for my final will and testament I leave the pokemons in my party to Calvin." Red took all the pokeballs and handed them to Calvin, "To Emerald, I leave my title as Champion of the Kanto Region. To Gold I leave Prof. Oak's lab which was handed down to me when he died." Red walked over to Crystal, Crystal was crying, "And to you, I leave this," Red undid his necklace, "May it always protect your from danger, just as it did for me." Crystal took the necklace and hugged Red, "I'm going to miss you." Red hugged Crystal as well, "As am I, tell my pokemons that I love them." Red began to cough up a lot of blood. Red looked at the blood like it was an alarm clock, loud, obnoxious, and always at the wrong time. Red sighed, "Well I guess this is where it ends for me, remember, just because I'm gone, doesn't mean you can't carry out your own adventures." Red walked over to Arceus, "I'm ready." Arceus grabbed Red's hand and faded away, leaving the cold shell of Red to collapse. Crystal ran to Red's side and grabbed his hand. Red was pale and cold. His eyes were closed in an eternal slumber. Crystal began to cry as she held Red's hand, Red's pokemons forced their way out of their pokeballs and ran to Red as well. They all simply kneeled there and cried the day away. By the time they had finally gotten over themselves they flew back to the Kanto, Finally, Red was going to be able to rest.

The funeral was packed with so many different people, Gym leaders were there, the Elite Four were there, Blue and Green, pokemons (Probably Red's own), and a few civilians, hell, even Calvin was there. The funeral was paid for by the Silph Company. The funeral lasted a few hours and then everyone finally just headed home. Crystal stayed and looked at the gravestone that was now over her boyfriend. Emerald, Gold, and Calvin, were worried about here and decided to go help, "Crystal are you alright," Gold asked. Crystal nodded, "I'm fine, just reevaluating over the years." Emerald smiled, "Well, at least he's no longer suffering, right? I mean he's now with his family and what not." Crystal smiled, "Yeah." Crystal stood up and left a bouquet of flower over Red's grave and read the words upon the gravestone one more time

_Here Lies Red_

_Family too few, friend too many_

"_I want to die knowing that my family will be happy even when I die, and I want to bear witness to that point in my life as my parting gift, and I refuse death's kind offer until then."_

_ -Red 2014_

Epilogue:

Great story, huh? I know, I know, it wasn't that good, but this is the first story that I created myself. Now, I need to review a few things, the character Calvin, and all of his pokemons, were from the brilliant minds of Ruby of Blue, an animator that is creating his own pokemon series, I made this in hope of branching off his story. I did this for mine, and all of your entertainment. I personally enjoyed making this story because I was able to test my ability as a writer. Red, Crystal, Gold, Emerald, and Sapphire were based off the widely popular franchise of pokemon. Red is the trainer you play as in Red and Blue and Leaf Green and Fire Red. For no other reason beside Red is awesome I chose him as my main character. Crystal and Sapphire were my own imagination (Though it could be argued that Crystal was from Pokemon Crystal ® and Sapphire is from Pokemon Sapphire ® I don't own any ownership over the characters. The plot, storyline, and emotions of the characters are mine though. The story is mine as well. Anyone who wishes to share or copy and paste this, (As if) must give me credit for Copyrights sake. I worked exceptionally hard to make this, I went on the internet to do research on things in the story to make sure they were at least a little bit right.

Now to the story, in the story I put a little annotation after referring to homosexuality as forbidden, saying that I was just expressing to how a general populations would see this. I do not believe this, I believe that people should express love with whomever they desire. Love is a valuable thing that should be treasure and shouldn't be forced. Love is something that isn't forced, it's gained. Now granted for repopulating the Earth, love between a male and a female is required, and I agree with that which is why I'm heterosexual. I don't believe, however, that someone should be persecuted for their sexual preferences just because of religions. Not everyone believes in the same thing which is the beauty of being an individual, we choose to be who we are, no one can choose it for us. If you want to be an artist, that's your decisions and no one else's. If you want to be gay, then that's your decision, and no one can take that right. Don't be afraid to speak out your belief. Sure you might get in trouble for what you think by numerous people, but don't let that stop you.

Now, that also goes in reverse. If you don't want to be judged for what you believe, then you also got to respect that yourself. If we all respected each other for who we are, I think this world would be in much better shape. Now I personally don't understand wars between different organized religions. I find them rather stupid and annoying. Not the religions (In truth I find more than a few religions that are very interesting that I like to look into a lot), I find the wars against religions stupid. We are humans, meant to work together as some of the world's smartest, most social, and most advanced species. Yet, we fight each other and constantly separate ourselves. I blame this on differences in belief because humanity has difficulty accepting others, we always try to see ourselves as right, and anyone who disagrees is attacked. Now I don't mean to stop religions altogether, but accept each other for who they are, they aren't your problem, let them be who they want to be, worry about yourself.

If you did read all the way to the end I want to congratulate you for grueling through this story, I don't know if you enjoyed it or not. I tried to make it as elaborate as possible, many times I ended up banging my head against the wall wondering how to progress in the story without making it seem too cliché, many time I feel I accomplished that, many other times I feel like I failed to do so and that makes me sad. But as the constitution dictates, you can write freely what you feel is necessary, but if you got a suggestion for the story I'm opened to suggestions, just try and make sure their not too far-fetched and add some explanation behind your idea, I'm always anxious on how I can make this better. Oh, and one more thing, make sure the idea doesn't throw my story threw a loop and make me end up going through an entire page just to figure out how to fit this in.

Now for my final input, I made Red based on my own personality. Red is accepting of others, and promote being different and he's very reliant on others, but he also tries to do some things by himself. The rest of his personality I created from the void of my imagination. What I was aiming for was an Ideal human being. Kind, brave, strong, smart, accepting, understanding, faithful, and self-reliant. Red is the kind of person that I wish a lot of people could be. If you read this, kindly make my dream come true. Be kind to those who hate you and even if they reject try harder. There is not prequel to this yet, if you feel that a prequel is necessary I will get onto it. I would greatly enjoy delving back into this kind of story. I greatly enjoyed the creation of this story. Remember, give respect to Gamefreak, Ruby of Blue, and all creators of pokemons. I hope you all enjoyed this creation, if not, tell me where I went wrong and I will use your critique to better my future stories.

By: Aaron Mikaski


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